Avatar: Last Firebender
by clockworkchaos
Summary: In a timeline where the Avatar was never frozen, Azula must escape the Fire Nation as it falls to the armies of the Air Empire. Can she possibly take on the Avatar and save the world?
1. The Exiled Princess Part 1

All characters belong to Nick/respective creators, you all know the deal

...

**Prologue-100 years earlier**

_History is a funny thing…_

Aang tiptoed along the hallways of the Temple. Reaching an intersection, he peaked around the corners.

_Something seem so inevitable that even the gods struggle helplessly_

Yesterday had been the worst day of his life. Not only had he found out he was the Avatar, but now the older monks wanted to send him away and he was supposed to fight a war. He wasn't ready for that.

_And sometimes the tiniest movement can change everything_

Clink…

Aang froze as he turned his head to the table he had brushed. The sound was barely a louder than a whisper, but to Aang it seemed to echo across the halls, alerting everyone to his presence. He looked around, expecting to be grabbed at any minute, before finally relaxing.

"Phew."

Aang bent down, picking up the fallen Pai Sho piece. After examining it for a moment, he put it in the pack he was carrying, and continued walking.

Finally he arrived outside "C'mon Appa, it's time for us to leave" he said sadly.

_And a single act of kindness can change the destiny of an entire people_

"Are you so eager to go you can't even spare a good-bye for a poor old monk?"

"Gyatso!" Aang gasped, turning around with a look on his face. "What are you doing here?"

"I've long since grown used to the sound of fallen Pai Sho tiles, and the prospect of a game always wakes me up. When I got to my board I found one was gone."Gyatso walked closer to Aang, bending down to look him in the eyes. "Now tell me, why do you feel the need to leave in the middle of the night, and with such a storm brewing?"

Aang looked away from Gyatso's gaze. "Because the other monks are sending me away, I don't want to leave here!"

Gyatso laughed, seemingly unperturbed by Aang's worry. "So you're leaving anyways? My, how the young mind works."

"I'm not ready to be the avatar, I can't do it, I wish I had never been born the avatar!" Aang shouted, forgetting his earlier attempts to be quite.

"Don't decry the gifts you are given. Now come here," Gyatso put his arm around Aang. "I know you're scared, and I know you're not ready, but running away won't solve it. Problems have a way of chasing people down."

Aang looked up at Gyatso, finally meeting his eyes. "So what should I do? I don't want to leave my friends and… I don't want to leave you."

"First, let me say that the western air temple is not some military base, whatever the other monks in this temple want it to be. It is run by the female Nuns there and I personally know them, and they are all very nice." Gyatso smiled slightly longer than strictly necessary before continuing.

"Secondly, I promise you will make new friends. You are one of the most sociable people I know, and I'm sure you'll be the talk of the temple with your wonderful airscooter. Finally, it is not forever. I will make sure you can visit the southern temple, and once you're fully grown, even the other monks will have no authority to tell you where you can and cannot go."

"But I'm still not ready to be the Avatar. I can't face the Fire Nation." Aang looked down at the floor, avoiding Gyatso's eyes once again.

"All the legends say the Avatar must face any threats to the balance, and that's true, but no one said you have to face them alone."

"You'll be with me?"

"I will support whatever action you take. I know you will make the right choice."

"And you'll visit?"

"At least once every season, and you can come visit us at least once a year."

Aang looked Gyatso strait in the eyes. "Promise?"

Gyatso raised his hand in the Air Nomad symbol of promise. "I Promise. Now you should go back to bed, it's late and you've got a big day tomorrow."

Aang and Gyatso began walking back to the temple "Hey Gyatso, here's your Pai Sho piece back."

Gyastso chuckled. "You can keep it Aang. I think you will find plenty of people to play with in the Western Air temple, and it's always good to have a Lotus Tile."

**Avatar: The Last Firebender**

**Book 1: Water **

**Chapter 1: The Exiled Princess, part 1**

The Fire Nation capital was burning. There was a certain irony in those words, nevertheless, it was true. The siege of the capital had finally ended. The airbenders finally pushing through in the dead of night. The Fire Lord was dead. Her brother and father were most likely captured or killed as well. As far as she knew, she was the last member of the royal family.

Which is why she had to escape, rather than stay and fight.

"You, halt!" Two airbenders approached her, raising their staves.

"No thanks," without breaking her stride Azula thrust out her hands and let loose twin streams of blue flame. The flames moved faster than the Air Nomads could react, catching their cloths on fire and quickly making them more focused on not burning to death. Azula continued to run through the burning city, attempting to avoid the fights between the air nomads and the few remaining pockets of Fire Nation resistance.

"Over there! It's the Princess!" Azula cursed the thrice damned air gliders as several swooped down and surrounded her.

"Give it up princess, there's nowhere to run- AGGH" the lead airbender screamed as a throwing knife imbedded itself in his hand, causing him to drop his staff.

Before the airbenders knew what was happening two more figures dropped from the rooftops. The first flinging knifes and shurikens so fast that the airbenders were stuck before they even had time to bend. The second seemed to dance around the blasts of air, paralyzing the airbenders with several quick jabs.

"Zula, I'm so glad to see you, I was worried you'd been taken." Ty Lee ran up to give her a hug.

"Nice to see you too, Ty Lee" said Azula as she pried her off.

"You have a plan?" Mai asked, and Azula could almost swear she heard worry underneath the standard deadpan.

"Escape the city, there's no point in staying here."

"That's a great plan Azula, I'm so glad you thought of it." If it had been anyone else Azula would have suspected that was sarcasm. If it had been Mai she would have known it was sarcasm, but given it was Ty Lee…

"Follow me." Azula turned and headed down one of the royal city's streets, to a row of houses, each one either abandoned or heavily locked, depending on the owners.

"Um Azula, isn't the harbor the other way?"

"Yes, now be quite... here we go." Azula opened the door to one of the abandoned houses and motioned for the other two to follow.

"I assume this has a point?"

Azula ignored Mai's question, and continued though the house before stopping in front of a carpet with a phoenix on it. She dragged the carpet away and bent down. "Mai hand me a knife." Grasping the knife she slid the blade between a barely noticeable cut in the floor boards, using it to wedge open a hidden door.

"Ohhh a secret passage!" Ty Lee exclaimed, as they headed down the stairs, into an unlit tunnel.

Summoning a blue flame from her hand to light the way, Azula began to explain. "It was originally supposed to be part of a larger system throughout the volcano, but the war was so expensive only a few could be built. This one will lead us all the way to harbor. Once we get there we can head to the boat prepared in case the fire lord needed to evacuate."

"But Azula, the Fire Lord isn't with us."

"Given the current state of affairs the Fire Lord is almost certainly dead, the ships orders are to take any surviving member of the royal family, and I'm probably the only one."

"Zuko's dead?" Azula could defiantly hear the note of worry in Mai's voice that time.

Azula shifted uncomfortably "Well…. Maybe not, he could have been captured as a hostage."

The rest of the trip passed in silence. "This tunnel ends at one of the smaller armories. Hopefully it hasn't been destroyed, but we need to be prepared. It's not far to the cave, so we shouldn't be out in the open too long." Azula informed them.

The armory was mercifully both intact and empty. Azula opened to door, and quickly looked around, "looks like the coast is clear. Follow me." The walk was nerve-racking. Several times they had to duck into a nearby building as the air gliders or the occasional bison flew overhead. By luck or some miracle of the Spirits they managed to arrive at the cave without incident.

"Captain, I'm glad to see you're still at your post."

The captain bowed "Our duty is to stay for any member of the royal family. We would have remained even if the armies of the Air Empire had worn away this very cave." He tried to hide it, but the mixture of shock and relief in his voice at Azula's arrival was easy to hear.

"Captain!" Yelled a guard, pointing upwards. Several silhouettes of air bender gliders headed to them, illuminated by the orange light of many fires.

"Dammit, looks like we're going to have to fight." Azula shifted into a firebending stance.

Mai turned around to face her. "No princess, we are, you aren't."

"What?"

"You're the only surviving member of the royal family. You're far too valuable to let them take."

"What are you talking about? No one's going to get captured."

"You're a good liar, but it doesn't work when you can see the evidence in front of our faces. There are at least thirty of them, and even if we won they would know you were here."

"You have no right to order me around, and ARGHHH" Azula felt a sharp pain in her side followed by numbness.

"Sorry Zula…" Ty Lee apologized.

"Get her to the ship; we'll keep them away from the cave." Mai ordered as she and Ty Lee leapt away.

The men began to pick Azula up while she screamed "GET YOUR HANDS OF ME, and get back here you two, GET BACK HERE-!"

...

The bunk she was laid in was empty, the door open, and the Princess was gone.

The search was swift and efficient. The launches and lifeboats were all intact and in place, which was the first worry. There were no... surprises in the weapons locker. The helmsmen had not seen her at all.

She was found at the rail. No tears or emotion on her face as she looked to the horizon.

"Zhao's fleet was last reported in Southern waters," she said without preamble. "We should intercept them, then make for the Northern Water Tribe with all due speed. Set a course."

"Princess, I am sorry for your l-"

"Set. A. Course."

The molten steel of the railing oozed between her fingers, and white hot drops splattered on the deck.

"Yes, your highness."

...

Ever since the conversation on the first day Azula had had almost no contact with either the Captain or the crew. Which is not to say she locked herself in her room, rather the opposite, as she only went in only to eat her meals and get a few hours of sleep.

The rest of the time was either spent looking out to sea or performing firebending katas.

So while the crew was around her the entire time, there was little real contact, and neither side seemed inclined to change that.

It therefore fell upon the Captain to attempt to establish some contact, as unclear orders from your superiors had been the death of far wiser men than him.

"Princess?"

Azula did bother to turn around, still looking out to sea. "What is it Captain?"

"About our instructions…"

"Are you questioning my orders captain?" Azula turned around, now giving the captain her full attention; it rather reminded him of the way a tiger-hawk had looked at him when he visited the circus.

"No you highness! I just wanted to know more about them…"

"You mean why we're headed to the Northern Water Tribe rather than one of the outposts in the fire nation?

"Yes and-"

"Or why we are headed to Zhao's fleet in the South first, rather than heading directly North?"

Not waiting for an answer, Azula turned around and dismissively waved her hand. "Very well, to answer you first question; heading to the hidden bases is exactly what the Air Nomads would expect of us. With so much of the nobility and army captured I can't be sure which bases are secure."

"On the other hand, though they will be able to find us once we are in the North, they won't be able to simply attack, and if they do it will bring the northern water tribe into the war, either way I can't lose. Secondly Zhao needs to be warned about the loss of the capital, and messenger hawks are too risky. His fleet is now the largest military force the Fire Nation has, and we can't have him wandering at sea waiting for orders that will never come."

"I see, Princess."

...

It was another five days before Zhao's fleet was sighted.

"Captain! Zhao's fleet off the starboard bow!"

"Excellent, give me a moment to signal them" Azula interjected, sending a blast of blue fire straight upwards.

"They're turning around!"

...

The Rising Sun was the flagship of Zhao's navy, and the pride of the Fire Nation. Standing nearly twice as high as standard fire nation ships - absolutely dwarfing Azula's craft - it was a virtual floating fortress.

Zhao leaned over the deck of the ship "Azula, good to see you, but may I ask what you are doing here?"

"Not right now. We need to talk, in private."

"Come aboard then," Zhao replied as a rope ladder was quickly lowered.

Once they were in the cabin Azula quickly recapped what had happened.

"The capital… has fallen?"

"I know, it sounds almost impossible, but I was there. At this point we need to head to the Northern Water Tribes. They're the only safe port we have."

"Yes the Northern Water Tribes… I see."

"CAWWW" a messenger hawk flew in, carrying a small scroll. Zhao quickly grabbed it.

"What is that?"

"Nothing, your highness. It's just a standard report from part of the fleet."

"I thought the fleet was all right here."

"I had a few scouts on patrol."

"Let me see the scroll."

"NO, I…" Zhao moved his hand to avoid allowing Azula to grab the scroll, accidentally showing the seal while he did it.

"That's…. the southern air temple's seal."

"Princess I assure you…. it's not…."

"You're working with them! You're working with the Avatar!"

Zhao's voice instantly became cold. "Yes, yes I am, and why shouldn't I? I know which side is going to win, and I no longer serve you. Now I suggest you surrender quietly." Zhao's bodyguards moved to cover the door while he spoke.

"This entire ship is full of traitors…. I have only one thing to say to you Zhao."

"What?"

"You should have paid more attention to your old teacher." With that Azula unleashed a circle of blue flames around herself, burning Zhao's guards and knocking him back.

"Ugh…" Zhao quickly picked himself up, looking around to see his room trashed and the door blew open "GET HER!"

Azula sprinted across the deck outrunning most of the crew before they even had a chance to react. A few firebenders launched blasts at her, but they were met with Azula's blue flames.

Two sailors attempted to capture her with a weighted net, only to find a net designed for airbenders was ill suited for holding up against a blast of fire. With only ten feet to go two guards blocked the way, pikes facing forward. Jumping up and kicking Azula unleashed two blasts of fire from her feet, hitting the guards right in the head.

While the helmets protected them from the majority of the blast, the distraction was enough for Azula to grab one of the pikes. Sweeping the other guard off his feet with the pike she ran to the edge and used the pike to pole-vault over the railing.

CRASH!

"PRINCESS! What are you doing here!" The Captain exclaimed.

"Zhao's turned traitor, no time to talk, get us out of here!"

"We can't."

"Why not? This is supposed to be the fastest ship the Fire Nation has."

"It is, but the boilers have been turned off while we waited for Zhao's fleet to meet with us. By the time we could reheat them Zhao's could have netted the entire ship!"

"Not a problem!" Azula shouted as she raced to the lower decks.

"Dammit, ATTENTION ALL HANDS, PREPARE TO SAIL, FIRE BENDERS GET UP HERE AND PREPARE TO BE BOARDED! You! Burn the ladders."

...

Bursting into each of the boiler rooms Azula sent a giant steam of blue flames into the boilers.

"You two, keep that boiler running as if your lives depended on it." Azula shouted as she ran back to the deck.

...

The Captain sighed as the ship lurched forward. The battle had actually been going rather well. With the enemy's ropes constantly being burned anyone boarding faced a nasty drop and was quickly dispatched.

"Princess! Which way do you want us to go?"

"I don't care, whichever way you think we can get out quickest! Tell your firebenders to watch for any incoming nets."

"What about the catapults?"

"Learn to duck."

The ship began to move as quickly as possible from Zhao's flagship while avoiding the surrounding ships. Nets and catapult fire reigned down, with Azula burning through the nets, and most of the other fire narrowly avoiding the ship, or at least not landing a full hit.

"Captain, up ahead!" Two of Zhao's ships were moving in front of them.

"What are they doing, do they want to get rammed?" one of the firebenders yelled.

"That's exactly what they want! They're big enough they have time to be evacuated, and we'll be stuck, dammit we don't have time to turn!"

"Head to the left ship!" Azula ordered as she fell into an unrecognizable stance.

To his credit, the captain began steering rather than question her orders.

...

"Sir, something's coming from the Princess's ship!"

"What?" The Fire Nation captain turned to look, only to be answered by electricity streaming through the ship. He slumped over the steering wheel, turning it as he fell to the ground.

...

The ship had been running full steam all day, and while it had been hours since Zhao's fleet had been in sight, the Captain had no doubt it was still pursuing them.

"Princess?"

"What is it, Captain?"

"We may have a bit of a problem…"

"Of course we do." Azula sighed "What now?"

"When fleeing Zhao's fleet I took the quickest route out of the fleet, however that has us heading south."

"Annnnnd…." Azula's voice dripped with impatience.

"Zhao's fleet is large enough to simply blockade us and move in."

"He can't cover the entire Southern Pole."

"Yes, but we'd have to go into the icy waters of the pole itself to get around the blockage, and the icebergs are far too dangerous."

Azula turned around; her smile sending off every survival instinct the Captain had developed serving the royal family. "You say the icebergs are too dangerous, are the icebergs actively chasing us?"

" No, Princess. "

"Do the iceberg have flaming catapults to fire at us?"

"No, Princess."

"Well maybe we should head to someplace where we might die. Instead of waiting around for Zhao, who already seems to have made up his mind."

"…. Yes, Princess. Men, cut power down to a fourth speed; we're heading into the pole."

...

A few hours later Azula was seriously reconsidering her earlier decision.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE'RE STUCK?!"

The captain hesitated, before deciding that facing the storm head on was probably the quickest and least painful solution. "We've become entrapped in the ice, and even if we melt it out I don't think we can turn around."

Azula looked ready to begin tossing flame, but turned around and began to stare out in the distance.

"Telescopes."

"What?"

"I said Telescopes. Get as many as you can, and begin looking for smoke or any signs of Southern Water Tribe villages. I've seen the water benders in the north manipulate ice as easily as a firebenders can control fire. If we can find one, we may be able to get out of this mess."

...

"So it's my fault?"

"I knew I should have left you at home. Leave it to a girl to screw things up."

Katara stood up "You are the most sexist, immature, nut brained… I'm embarrassed to be related to you." As she ranted seas behind her rose and fell with every word, and the one of the icebergs began to crack.

Finally taking notice, Sokka began looking around for the source of the cracking ice.

"Ever since mom, died I've been doing all the work around here while you've been off playing solider."

crack

"Ah Katara," Sokka pointed behind her.

"I even wash all the clothes. Have you ever smelled you dirty socks? Let me tell you, NOT PLEASANT!"

Crack….

"Katara settle down!"

"No that's it, I'm done helping you! From now on your on your OWN!" With the final word a wave washed over the iceberg.

CRACK!

The iceberg split apart, creating a wave that nearly turned over the ice the siblings were on.

"Okay, you've gone from weird, to freakish Katara."

"You mean I did that?"

"Yup, congratulations."

...

Azula grinned, turning her telescope from the broken iceberg to the two distant figures. "Captain, I believe something is finally going right for us."

...

End chapter 1

Thanks to the Soap Operus Board for helping with storyline and conception.  
Special thanks to posters chuckg and heretic.  
Heretic wrote the "set a course" scene used with permission  
Special thanks to my Beta reader, Avocadolove/Voodooweasel, whose patience and thoughtful comments are infinitely appreciated, and without whom this story would probably be barely readable.


	2. The Exiled Princess Part 2

All characters belong to Nick/creators...

**Avatar: The Last Firebender**

**The Exiled Princess (part II)**

"Well Katara, I hope you're happy. We're trapped on a tiny ice sheet with no boat, no paddle and no fish!"

"It's not my fault you crashed the boat."

"Suuure it's not, but your 'waterbending'." Sokka held up his fingers in quotes "IS the reason we're so far from the rest of the ice."

Katara stood up "Well maybe if you weren't such an insufferable jerk!"

"STOP!" Sokka crouched down, hands over his head. "Do you want to break the ice were standing on too?"He leaned over the side of the ice sheet and began to use his hands as a paddle. "Come on, help me get back to shore, and let's try to do this normally?"

Katara grumbled, but got on the other side and began to paddle. The going was slow, and even with the seal-turtle skin gloves the water was absolutely freezing, but they managed to head towards the rest of the ice field. Once they were within about five feet of the first ice piece Sokka stood up.

"What are you doing?" asked Katara.

He turned around to face her. "What does it look like? Jumping to the next piece of ice."

"It's too far."

"Watch me." Getting as good a running start as he could on the ice, Sokka leapt forward. As he jumped it appeared that Katara has been right. He landed near the very edge of the ice.

"Whoa, ahhh!" Sokka began waving his arms in a desperate attempt to balance himself before he slipped off. The ice piece itself soon made that effort irrelevant, and Sokka's weight began to tip it over. Desperately Sokka leaned forward, falling flat on the ice and managing to keep it balanced. Noticing the lack of cold water he opened his eyes and looked around.

"See Katara," Sokka said as he stood up and brushed himself off. "Nothing to it."

Katara rolled her eyes and began to paddle the ice closer.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Azula rummaged through the closet in her chambers. The ship had prepared for any eventuality and somewhere in here there was a set of Water Tribe clothes…..

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

It was nearly nightfall by the time they got back to the village. They had spent an entire day trudging back to the village with only each other for company, and without any food. Both Katara and Sokka were cold, tired, and hungry.

"Well now, what took you two?" asked Gran Gran, keeping a small fire going.

In conjunction the two sibling offered their versions of the events

"Katara was playing with magic water."  
"Sokka got caught in a current and smashed the boat."

Gran Gran waved her hands for both of them to stop talking. "I'm sorry to hear that, but Sokka, there are more boats left over from the other men. As for you Katara, you have a load of chores that didn't get done since you went on the trip, so I doubt were going to have this problem for a long time."

Katara grumbled at the implications while Sokka brightened up. "Now then, I've saved some soup for both of you." Both of the siblings eagerly ate before crawling into the igloo to sleep.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Sokka had his hands behind his back, inspecting his troops. "Alright men, you are the only line of defense between us, and the other tribes' raiders. You need to be swift as a sledding penguin, with all the force of a great avalanche, with all strength of a raging storm, mysterious as the southern lights." Sokka stopped, closing his eyes and taking in the awe of his men.

"Sokka?"

"Yes trooper?"

"Does this mean we can go penguin sledding?"

Sokka stopped, once again brought back down to earth. Instead of proud Water Tribe troops there was a bunch of kids, and instead of a brave chieftain he was just a kid too young to go out fighting for another year. "NO! Solders do not penguin sled, now let's march around the village, then we can practice fighting."

The kids quickly formed a line. Marching wasn't as good as penguin sledding, but they always loved Sokka's "war games".

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Sokka crouched down, peering over the edge of his fort. It was him against an entire army. He was faster, he was stronger, he was smarter, but even the best warrior could fall to superior numbers. All of a sudden he saw it, all of them were charging over the hill at once, putting their numbers to good use but leaving them right out in the open.

"Take this!" Sokka yelled, flinging snowball after snowball at the kids of the village.

"Soooookkkkaaa! Wait!" one of them yelled, as they continued running.

"I've told you all before, no time-outs for bathroom breaks." Sokka shouted as he continued to rain snowballs upon the oncoming kids.

"But there a stranger coming!"

Sokka stopped in mid-throw, mentally changing gears "You all get to the village, warn everyone else, I'll stay here and try to hold them off."

"But what if they kill you?" Sokka looked back, while most of the kids were too young to remember the heavy raids, they had still heard stories about them from when they were young.

"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine." Sokka crouched down, looking at them face to face. "Now I need you to be brave and tell everyone else what's happening. I don't want anyone getting caught outside the village. Can you do that for me, can you be brave?" The kids puffed their chests, determined to prove themselves.

Sokka started walking to where they had been, wishing he had someone to reassure him. Looking over a hill he felt his confidence rise. There was only one person, but did that mean a scout or did the group split up? The idea that someone might come for some other reason didn't even cross his mind. It was the raiding season; and people didn't give peace offerings to villages that were defenseless.

Sokka walked closer, crouching down and hiding behind snowbanks. Peering over it Sokka spotted his prey. Whoever it was wasn't very good, they were walking strait towards him and hadn't noticed him. Sokka waited, as his prey drew closer and closer. Lying down, Sokka tried calming his breath just like his father taught him, so he wouldn't be heard. Finally his prey was close enough.

Sokka let out a loud warcry and charged forward with his spear raised. "HAAAAAA!"

The figure turned around, completely surprised. Before he could impale them, his would-be victim dodged to the left and grabbed the spear out of his hands. Sokka continued forward, his momentum taking him past her. He felt a sharp thunk to the back of his head and everything went black…

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Azula gritted her teeth in anger. Today was not going well. It had taken forever to find any indication of any sort village. Eventually one of the men had spotted what looked like smoke, though when Azula looked it was so faint that is may have just been an illusion.

Nor had the search gone any better, there wasn't a single road, marker, or anything else to indicate where to go. It was almost like these people didn't want to be found. So Azula had spend all day in the freezing snow, marching in what she hoped was the right direction for a village that may not even exist. She had almost regretted going alone, but the last thing she needed were clumsy idiots slowing her down.

This however had to take the cake. Some Water Tribe barbarian had come out of nowhere screaming and trying to stick her with a spear. Luckily he had been utterly inept at combat. Azula was grateful she had had the presence of mind to hit him with the back end of his own spear. She doubted killing one of the warriors was going to help her get a waterbender. Then again, being attacked on sight didn't speak well for her chances anyways.

Unfortunately it looked like she'd hit the boy a little too hard, as he was now unconscious. This left Azula with a dilemma. Leaving him out here to freeze would probably have the same effect on her relations with his village as outright killing him, and she needed a waterbender to get through the ice. At the same time he was too heavy to carry. So now Azula had to stay here until the idiot woke up, or try to find the village and tell them. Decisions decisions…

Heading up one of the hills to get a better look. Azula began to warm her hands with a bit of firebending.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Katara settled the basket of clothes down, and slowly began to waterbend the water to the cloths. Gran-Gran didn't approve. She used the alternating arguments that clothes could only properly be done by hand and that water bending was too sacred to be used for such trivial tasks. Sokka's socks provided several counter-arguments.

"Katara!"

"Gran Gran!" Katara put her hands behind her back and let the water fall down as she failed to look innocent. "What are you doing here?"

"Finding you. We need to get back to the village right now." The tone of her voice told Katara exactly what was going on.

"Now? But we don't have anything, what could they want with us now?"

"I don't know, but we need to get going." Gran-Gran began trudging back, with Katara running behind her.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Katara looked around the village. Almost everyone was outside, still trying to decide whether to hide within the village, or make a run for it and hope they weren't followed. As Katara looked around she noticed someone appeared to be missing.

"Wait… where's Sokka?"

"I don't know." Gran Gran snapped. Then switching to a calmer voice, she continued. "Now we need to decide what to do."

Katara refused to be detoured, "But what if he gets caught?"

"I'm sure he'll be fine, he's probably out fishing and nowhere near them."

"Nuh uh, Sokka gonna beat them up." One of the kids answered with confidence before having his mouth covered by his mother.

Katara turned from the kid to her grandmother, absolutely furious. "You lied to me? You lied to me! You knew Sokka was out there getting himself killed, how dare you!"

Gran Gran raised her voice, "OF COURSE I DARE, I needed you to follow me. If you found out you would have gone after him."

Katara looked indignant. "Well what do you want me to do, just let him get killed?"

"I want you to trust him as a warrior of the tribe."

"He's not even a full-fledged warrior, they're all out fighting."

"Sokka is going to be joining them next year, he's almost a warrior."

"He is not, and I'm going to get him."

"NO YOU'RE NOT, you can't fight them."

"Why, because I'm a girl? I am so tired of your and Sokka's attitudes."

Gran Gran grabbed Katara's wrist, "No, because you are a waterbender."

Katara's rage stopped for a second, replaced by confusion. "Huh?"

"Idiot girl, don't you know that waterbenders are always the first targets? A warrior can be disabled of his weapon and captured. But a waterbender must be killed, completely restrained, or taken from their home and the water. Furthermore," here Gran Gran turned her eyes from side to side, as if afraid of invisible spies, then continued in almost a whisper. "I've heard the Air Nomads are stepping up abductions of waterbenders."

"What?"

"You heard me, the air nomads have always taken waterbenders of the tribes that don't ally with them, but the warriors have mentioned that in recent years they've been stepping it up. Rather than just taking enemy waterbenders they've been kidnapping any who show talent, even one's as young as you and taking them spirits know where."

Katara was shocked, but managed to get her resolve back quickly. "I don't care! I'm finding Sokka no matter what, and if I have to conceal my waterbending, well that's fine!" Katara pulled her wrist back, breaking Gran Gran's grip and took off running in the direction of Sokka's tracks.

"GET BACK HERE KATARA, SOKKA'S ALREADY GOING TO BE CAPTURED…. I don't want to lose you too..."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Katara stopped when she got to the collection of makeshift snow forts that Sokka and the kids had been using for their snowball game. While before the tracks had been in a single direction, here they were all over the place as the kids ran around. Looking around Katara eventually managed to find a heavier pair of tracks, indicating that Sokka had been running.

Katara followed the trail before catching a glimpse of Water Tribe clothing. She quickly ducked behind a nearby snowbank and peered her head over to study the figure. With a shock she realized that it was female. That was a problem, while females did fight in the southern Water Tribe, the ones that did were almost always benders. There were a few barbaric villages that fielded female soldiers, but it wasn't likely.

Looking closely Katara began to study her in more detail. She was hunched in on herself, clearly cold. Katara could see why, the clothes she was wearing, while clearly of good Water Tribe make, were not meant to be worn in the wilderness.

In fact, now that Katara thought about it there was something extremely odd about the clothes. They were formal wear, not battle clothes. Even the lighter clothes of a bender would be far thicker than what this person was wearing. Finally, she seemed utterly focused on her hands. She was barely paying any attention to her surroundings. In the biggest violation of common sense Katara had ever seen, the other waterbender appeared to have removed her gloves and….. Katara looked closer. Was she holding fire? All of a sudden Katara began to realize what that meant. Excitement overtaking common sense, Katara leapt over the snowbank and began to run up to the firebender.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Hearing another yell Azula quickly spun around. This was the second time she had been nearly taken by surprise by one of the Water Tribe warriors and it was really beginning to annoy her. At least the Air Nomads could fly, so it was to be expected, but basic warriors ambushing her? It was embarrassing for a bender of her caliber. Azula assumed a fighting stance just as the words of the yell registered with her.

"Heeeeeeey!"

Mentally readjusting herself, Azula took another look and realized that not only was this one unarmed, but she was waving as she ran up the hill. Quickly readjusting her stance, Azula clasped her hands together and attempted to keep a calm tone "Yes?"

The girl stopped right before Azula and began looking at her intently. While Azula was used to stares, she was surprised at how blatant this one was. Most people at the court would turn away if they thought she knew they were looking at her. This girl was staring her right in the face. It was actually beginning to get on her nerves "What is it?" Azula snapped.

Seeming to snap out of her trance, the Water Tribe girl responded. "Oh, um, right…. You're a fire bender? Aren't you?" she said with awe in her voice.

"I… what?" Mentally cursing herself Azula began to calculate the chances she could fool the girl. Not only had the girl probably seen the fire Azula had been holding, but had been studying her face. Azula realized that there was no reasonable way to hide it. "Yes, I am. Is that a problem?"

"No! No, it's just that, well I've never seen a fire bender before and… Um, actually have you seen my brother, Sokka? I was looking for him. You might have run into him. Since he probably thought you were…."

Azula began to ignore the chattering as she focused on keeping a straight face. This was just perfect. The idiot she had knocked out was probably this girl's brother; and as soon as she stopped being fascinated by the idea of a real firebender she would almost certainly notice. Better to tell the girl now and have the conversation on her own terms then be confronted with it.

"Actually I think I have. He ran towards me and slipped, hitting his head." Azula pointed to Sokka's unconscious body on the other side of the hill.

"What, is he okay?" the Water Tribe girl asked, running towards him.

"I'm not sure. I would have moved him, or told someone but I'm lost, and he's too heavy." Azula informed her as the girl crouched around her brother, examining his head.

"Oh. Could you help me carry him to the village then?" she asked, straitening up.

A village, perfect, that would hopefully be where the waterbender lived. "Sure, I'd be glad to help."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Katara grunted under the effort of moving Sokka. She was going to have get him to cut back on the meat. "So… , I haven't caught your name."

The firebender seemed to hesitate for a moment before replying, "It's Azula."

"Mines Katara, and this lump here is-"

"Sokka, I know." The firebender replied again, clearly not eager to hold a conversation while carrying Sokka.

"There's the village, we're almost there." Katara shook her head in the direction of the village. Katara could swear she caught a moment of disappointment across Azula's face when she saw the village. Though from what she wasn't sure. Then, it quickly reasserted itself back into a small smile.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Azula had mixed feelings about the village. On the one hand it was far too small to contain a significant population, or many waterbenders. On the other hand maybe that was a good thing. If the village was sympathetic towards the air nomads it wouldn't be hard to escape. Azula didn't think that was a likely possibility, thanks to the girl's fascinated reaction with her being a firebender, but it was still a possibility.

Cheering up Azula considered that maybe this wasn't really a problem. She had known several powerful firebenders who retired to smaller villages in the country within the Fire Nation. It was entirely possible the waterbender she had glimpsed earlier lived here. If not she could probably find out where they did live. No one was that powerful without some sort of reputation.

As they got closer Azula began to notice that the town appeared deserted, Azula wasn't sure what to make of that. The lack of civilians was consistent with a town expecting a raid, but where were the warriors? Even the most deserted Fire Nation towns had some guards. She tensed up, considering the possibility of a trap.

Passing into the village proper Azula began to relax. The warriors were not hidden behind the wall. Even if they were in the ice structure or the tents it would be easy for her to escape before they could surround her.

"Hold on a moment. I'll go tell Gran Gran about you," said Katara as she put Sokka's legs down and went inside the ice dome. Dropping the rest of Sokka on the ground, Azula waited for a minute or so before an old woman and Katara emerged. The old woman stared at her for a few moments before speaking.

"So my granddaughter tells me you're Fire Nation."

Azula smiled as sweetly as she could. "Yes, is that a problem?"

The old women shook her head. "No, not as such, but what is someone of the Fire Nation, and a bender at that, doing so far away from home?

Azula replied without hesitation. "My ship got thrown off course during a storm, we found ourselves lost and accidentally wandered into the icy waters. The ship quickly became trapped in the ice. We happened to have one set of Water Tribe clothing and I was sent out because it fit me."

The woman stopped, considering what Azula had said "I see…" Then she turned around and called out behind her. "Come on out everyone. It's safe."

Azula watched for a few seconds as a collection of women and children filed out of the single ice structure. Azula concealed her annoyance at realizing that they had been hiding in there like scared rabbits. Easy prey if someone had wanted to kill them. If there was one thing Azula hated it was helplessness. While she was not a fan of idiocy or incompetence, it was people who had refused to even try that truly aroused her ire. Luckily, Azula had also spent a long enough time in the Palace to know how to conceal her disgust. These people may be simple peasants, but as the only source of information they were more valuable than the entire living Fire Nation nobility combined. Though at this point she didn't think that was terribly hard.

"Azula, the entire village. The entire village, Azula." Several of the kids began running towards her to get a closer look. Azula didn't really feel comfortable with children, their carefree attitude contrasting far too much with her own. She attempted to take a neutral stance. Avoiding encouraging them while not outright telling them off.

"Are you really Fire Nation?"

"Why are you here?"

"You're eyes are funny."

"Can you really make fire?"

Ironically, Azula was saved from the incessant questioning by one of the children noticing Sokka. "What happened to Sokka? Did you hurt him?"

Before more accusations could be leveled Katara interfered. "No, Sokka just slipped and hit his head, Azula helped me carry him home."

"Speaking of which we should get him inside and on a bed. Azula would you like some hot tea?" Asked the old woman.

Azula didn't share the Firelord's enthusiasm for tea, but something hot sounded really good right now.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Azula was sitting across from Katara. The old woman, who she'd learned was called Kanna, poured tea into three cups and then sat down to drink. "So, I understand you are looking for help getting your ship unstuck. I'm sorry but we really can't help you, all our men are away right now and we couldn't get it unstuck if we wanted to."

"That's fine, what I really was hoping for was direction to the other villages."

Katara and Kanna looked at each other "That might be a bit of a problem. The Southern Water Tribe is divided among many false chieftains. Each claims to be the true leader, the strongest one is currently supported by the Air Empire. He would have you captured on site. We aren't sure which villages are on which side anymore and many have moved or been destroyed by fighting."

"What about waterbenders? Are there any that live around here? Maybe a hermit or something?"

Kanna shook her head, "Again I must disappoint."

Katara interrupted with an exited exclamation "I'm a waterbender!" Azula did not miss the withering look Kanna shot Katara right after she said this.

Speaking carefully, Azula asked. "Do you think you could get my ship unstuck?"

Katara stopped for a moment considering, before looking disappointed. "Actually, I haven't been trained." Then she brightened up and continued, "but maybe you could train me."

"Train you?" Azula asked, utterly confused.

"Well you're a bender too, if your train me…"

Azula gave a laugh, both at the absurdity of the suggestion, and to avoid dwelling on the fact that fate had once again given her hope only to snatch it away. "I'm sorry, but that's impossible, I'm a firebender and the bending arts are nothing alike. You won't be able to learn waterbending from me."

"Oh", Katara said disappointedly while Azula began contemplating her next move. This trip had been almost a total bust, with no information, no waterbender and her ship still frozen. She could ask for more information on what Kanna did remember, even if the locations weren't completely accurate it might give her an idea, though she ran the high risk of simply getting lost.

Perhaps going more local, and doing a thorough search for the waterbender that had cracked the iceberg. They didn't live here, but maybe village knew something, some sort of legend… or maybe they were hiding it from her? Her last option was to just give up and go back to the ship, she was fairly certain she could, with effort, melt the ice immediately surrounding the ship. However she wasn't sure she could sustain it to get out of the poles. Using firebending to melt ice was work, unlike the waterbenders who could do it near effortlessly.

"Owwwww….."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Sokka rubbed the back of his head, trying to figure out the two all important questions. What happened, and where was he? The first question was helped by the familiar deer-penguin furs laid over him, he was in bed. As his vision began to return he was able to make out the faces of Katara and Gran-Gran, meaning he was in bed at home, putting an end to the first question.

The second question was answered when he looked at the third figure in the room. "HEY! It's you!" Sokka shot up, pointing at her. "What are you doing here? Katara! Get away from her!"

"Sokka, stop!" yelled Katara, as he pushed himself out of the bed and tried to grab a spear. "She's a guest!"

"A guest!? She tried to kill me!"

"You ungrateful little… I saved your life!"

"Was this before or after you hit me on the head?"

"It's not like I could do any damage there!"

"QUIET!" Kanna yelled, displaying surprising lung power for a woman of her age. She began to set four cups of tea on the table. Each with enough force to let all members present know she was _this_ close to losing it. "We" clink "are" clink "going to discuss this" clink "calmly" clink. "Sokka you first, tell me what happened."

"Well I was training with the other solders" as this Katara gave a dismissive snort, and received sharp looks from both her brother and Grandmother. "When the troops spotted an enemy scout," here he pointed to Azula. "I snuck behind a snowbank and waited to ambush her, but she managed to grab my spear and knock me out."

"Oh really? I managed to take a trained warrior's spear and knock him out with it?" At this Sokka began to realize that not only had he been bested by a girl, but she was barely even his age. "Like I said before, my name is Azula and my ship got stuck in the ice. I went out to look for help. Then out of nowhere he charged me. But before I could even react he slipped on the ice and knocked himself out. I realized I simply couldn't leave him to die. So out of the goodness of my heart I stayed with him until Katara came along."

"Oh really?" asked Sokka. "And just what proof do you have you aren't another tribes spy?"

"I don't know, how about this?"

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Holding out her hand Azula began to focus on it, calling the fire in her outwards. Azula always got a little thrill creating the flame, a "rush of power" so to speak. This time it was the reactions of the others that really made her day. Katara and her grandmother, despite knowing she was a firebender, flinched back for a second at its creation. Though Katara drew in closer afterwards, fascinated by the display of casual bending.

Sokka(or as Azula had mentally renamed him, "the idiot") reaction took the cake. He leapt back and gave a high-pitched yell of fear.

"What? Scared of a little fire?" she taunted.

"Oh no, not this again. First it's magic water and now it's magic fire. Getting splashed is bad enough, but I'm not getting burned."

Katara joined in the argument, raising her voice "For the last time, it's bending, not 'magic'. Secondly I do not splash you all the time."

Sokka gave a derisive snort, "Oh please, every time you play with your bending something goes wrong."

"It does not."

"Oh really, then what do you call yesterday?"

Katara stood up. "What about yesterday?"

"You destroyed that iceberg."

"So what?"

"So, it left us stranded from the rest of the ice."

"You're the one who crashed the ship."

"I…" It was at this point that Azula tuned both of the siblings out, finally realizing the implications of what she'd heard. It seemed impossible, but now that she thought about it, it fit. She had never gotten a good look at the two figures, but they had been on an iceblock. She had assumed it was some Southern Water Tribe method of transportation. She'd seen waterbenders create ships of ice in the north, but if their ship crashed ….

The implications were mind boggling. That much power untrained… Azula had seen the northern Water Tribe benders, and only a few could ever wield that kind of power after a lifetime of training. Honestly that kind of power was comparable to her own. The girl didn't have skill or training, but in terms of pure power… Azula laughed at the irony, she'd traded Zhao, a firebender with power but no control, for a water bender with even more power and even less control.

Realizing everyone was now looking at her she quickly recovered. "Sorry… it's just your fighting reminded me of me and my brother. I was a lot smarter than him too." This elected a flattered smile from Katara and annoyance from Sokka. Before he could open his mouth to respond Azula turned to Katara and cut him off ."So is it true you destroyed an entire iceberg?"

"Well yes, but it was an accident."

"That really impressive, most trained benders can't even begin to wield that kind of power. To do it without any training is almost unheard of." Katara smiled at the acknowledgment from another bender, while Sokka rolled his eyes at the blatant flattery.

Azula continued "Do you think that-?" but found herself cut off by Kanna.

"Katara, you need to finish your chores."

"What?" asked Katara, shocked. She turned to face her grandmother.

Kanna took a sip of her tea "You heard what I said; the clothes were still being washed when all of this happened, and they still need to get done."

"How can you force me out of here right now?!"

"Katara, if your grandmother wants you to leave, I think we should respect her wishes. Since my arrival caused you to be delayed, I'll be glad to help you."

"I really don't think you need to do that, those are Katara's chores…" Kanna began to protest.

"It's no trouble at all. I'm always willing to help." Azula said as she practically shoved Katara out of the igloo, mentally crowing at having outmaneuvered the old woman.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

With Azula practically pushing her out of the igloo, Katara had been too surprised to get angry. Now that they were outside the village and Azula was walking aside her, Katara was fuming at Gran Gran.

"How dare she-! I mean why does she keep treating me like this? I do all the work and Sokka gets all the freedom, ugggh it makes me so mad. Did you know she didn't even want to tell me where Sokka was? …..What about you, do you have to deal with things like that in the Fire Nation?"

Azula continued walking, looking thoughtful. "Well I don't have a grandmother, but I guess I can relate. I have a lot of expectations placed on me, and not a lot of freedom. Though I'm sure your life isn't all bad. From what I heard you're a very powerful waterbender."

Katara smiled. "I guess, but I really don't know. I mean the last time I ever saw another water bender I was only five…" Katara stopped. Not wishing to dwell on that particular memory.

Azula continued talking, looking forward. "Well I've got a lot of experience with waterbenders. Being able to crack an iceberg single-handedly is rare, extremely rare."

Katara turned, shocked "You have? I thought you hadn't ever been to the Southern Pole?"

Azula smiled. "I've never been to the Southern Water Tribes before, but I have been to the Northern Water Tribe."

"Really? What's it like up there? Do they have waterbenders, I mean obviously they must… but what are they like?"

Azula continued walking, "Well, most of them aren't very impressive. Able to do only a basic waterwhip, or slowly moving the elements, but that's really the case in almost all benders. What's really impressive is what they can do when they work together. The main city has giant ice walls that can be lowered or raised to defend the port."

"Wow…"

"Actually, I was planning on going there as soon as my ship gets unstuck."

"Really? But it's all the way on the other side of the world."

Azula laughed. "Which should tell you just how lost we got, but yes, it's going to be a long trip." Azula stopped and turned to face Katara. "Actually there was something I wanted to ask you. As I said before my ship got frozen in the ice, and I was wondering if you could break it free."

Katara stopped dead in her tracks "You think I could do that? I mean the first time was an accident-"

Azula cut her off. "Anything that can be done once can be done again. Now come on." Azula began to run up the top of a hill, while Katara realized that rather than leading Azula, for the past few minutes she had been unconsciously following Azula. Climbing over the hill Katara followed Azula's pointed finger and once again found herself giving a gasp of surprise.

Not only was Azula's ship as large as any warship she had seen, but it was made almost entirely of metal. She had heard about the Fire Nation's metallic ships from her father before, but had always assumed he meant they were armored with metal, not actually made of metal. The completely metallic ship, glistening in the afternoon sun, was truly an amazing site to see.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Azula continued to talk to Katara about the various nations and places she had been. So far it had been going perfectly. Katara was absolutely fascinated by the prospect of the Northern Water Tribe and the rest of the world.

She soon realized that it was getting late, and that the captain had insisted on sending out warriors to look for her if she didn't signal back by sundown. "Hey Katara, would you like to see a firebending demonstration?"

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

One of the advantages of being the only male left in the tribe was a surplus of fishing boats. He would need to build a new one before the rest of the men got back at the end of the season. But until then he was still able to go out fishing. After Azula had left with Katara he had been tempted to chase after them, but Gran-Gran had halted him.

With his troop's training disrupted Sokka had decided to make the best of the day and at least get some fish. Leaning over the side of the boat, Sokka smiled. This was the life. No sister to mess up his fishing, just him and the fish, one on one, hunter and prey…

Sokka jumped as two bursts of blue flame shot up over the horizon. Losing his balance, Sokka tried to steady himself before plunging into the water. The freezing water made him grateful for the thick water resistant coat he had on.

"S-s-s-st-t-tup-pid , f-f-fireben-n-nding, st-t-tupid f-f-firebenders-s-s" muttered a freezing Sokka as he began to righted the boat. Thankfully, he hadn't brought anything along that couldn't float except his spear, which was safely in his hand. So it was a simple, if cold, matter to retrieve the paddle and begin rowing to shore.

After dragging his boat ashore and drying off as best he could Sokka started wondering about what the fire shots had been about. He had only heard those two, and they were aimed at the air, so he had thought Azula had been showing off to his sister. But why make them so easily seen? It was almost like…a signal. Sokka began running to where he had seen them. He had been right about her. He knew she was a spy, and now she'd probably given away where the tribe was.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Kanna sighed. Today had been exciting, and she hated exciting. While her grandchildren still dreamed of adventure, and most of the other kids were too young to remember any of the real raids, Kanna did. She remembered coming down from the Northern Water Tribe. She remembered being shocked at the division of the Southern Water Tribe. At first it had just been between her husband, and the air nomad's puppet Taskoda.

But every day it seemed like someone else either wished to be independent or stake a claim to the chiefdom. As the best claimant, most of the others had begun by turning on her husband, and the raids had decimated the loyal forces. Nowdays her son, Hakoda was just another chieftain among the warring factions, and not even one of the most powerful. The villages had to hide like frightened reindeer-rabbits, rather than the proud city there had once been. More than anyone else, Kanna knew that excitement meant dangers, and often destruction and loss.

She had considered forbidding Katara to see the Fire Nation girl. Sokka's offer to chase after them was certainly tempting. The fact remained that she had rescued Sokka, and didn't seem to be an immediate threat. Kanna didn't like the idea of an outsider knowing Katara was a waterbender, but preventing Katara from seeing her would have simply alienated her strong-willed grandchild further. Kanna was living proof that you could only push a Water Tribe woman so far.

She was shaken out of her thoughts by two bright flashes of blue across the sky. Well used to the Air Nomads using wind to signal attacks, she did not even guess at what it was. She rushed out of the house as fast as possible to save her granddaughter.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Katara turned as she heard the distinct sound of feet crunching on snow. Running towards her were Gran Gran and Sokka, yelling something she couldn't quite make out.

"What?" She yelled back.

"KATARA GET AWAY FROM THERE!" Screamed Sokka.

"WHAT?"

"SHE'S DANGEROUS, GET AWAY FROM HER!"

Katara clenched her teeth, not this again "FOR THE LAST TIME-"

"Katara, get down here right now." Gran Gran had finally gotten close enough to be heard and her tone of voice brokered no argument.

"What, why?"

"Don't argue with me, get down here right now young lady." Gran gran insisted, pointing right in front of her.

"Why are you taking his side, she's done absolutely nothing wrong" Katara insisted.

"Except signal her allies for an attack," Sokka retorted.

Katara rolled her eyes "What are you talking about?"

"The flames! They were clearly signaling for an attack."

"No they weren't, she was just showing me some bending, she needs our help and I don't see why you're both being so paranoid."

"Katara," Kanna voice was calm, but firm. "Maybe your right, but I am not going to risk your safety on a maybe. Azula, thank you for brining my grandson back, but I think you should go."

"WHAT, you can't just" Katara was cut off by a hand on her shoulder.

"Katara," Azula said calmly, looking straight at her "It's fine."

"What? No it is not fine."

"It's fine. I really don't want to cause trouble between you and your family. I'll just leave, my ship has some strong men and firebending talent. It won't be as easy to melt the ice as it is with water bending, but it can be done. I'm sure we'll find a way, and keep up your waterbending, with training you could be one of the strongest waterbenders in the world."

Azula turned and began to walk away, but stopped after a few steps. "Actually, Katara I want you to have this." Fishing into one of her pockets she pulled out what looked like a small horn, handing it to Katara she continued "It's a tooth of a sabertooth sea-lion, the deadliest predator in the northern poles. I want you to have it."

Turning it over Katara admired the intricate handiwork and designs carved into the tooth itself. "It's beautiful."

"Thanks for the hospitality, and I hope you're able to find a waterbending teacher." Azula said as she turned and walked away.

Katara stayed on the hill for about a minute, sadly watching Azula leave before being lead away by Gran Gran.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

It was almost sundown by the time Azula got back to the ship. The sentries were able to see quite well across the ice sheet the boat was frozen in. By the time she was there the captain had already been roused and was ready to greet her.

"Princess, you're safe. I didn't expect you back so soon…" the captain spoke hesitantly.

Azula laughed "Don't worry Captain, I found a waterbender."

"Really? That's excellent news, do you need an escort to go get them?"

"No, she should be coming to us tonight. Keep the lanterns burning."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Katara lay in her bed, turning over the present in her hand's as she thought about what Azula had said. It wasn't fair, she had finally met another bender and now she was going to leave, she'd only been here one day. Azula's firebending had been nothing short of amazing, after starting off with two powerful blasts she had created a small fire from the edge of her fingertips. She had even been able to 'draw' designs in the air with the flames, though they quickly flared out.

Katara could barely float a single ball of water while putting all her concentration on it, and it was disrupted at the merest touch. It was at least nice to know that she had power. Looking back she could remember all the times she had accidentally created waves. So at least she had something right.

It just wasn't fair, if she had had someone to train her she could be amazing, one of the best. Azula had seen the entire world, was able to control fire like another hand. Meanwhile Katara was stuck forever in this tiny village doing nothing but basic chores. Despite what Azula said she was never going to find a waterbending teacher, it just wasn't going to happen.

Unless she went to the North Pole…

Katara stopped. She tried to push the thought away, but much like her brother's boomerang it insisted on coming back. Azula was heading to the North Pole. Azula wanted her help getting out of the ice. If Katara helped her she might be willing to take Katara with her.

But she couldn't just abandon the village, right?

But why not? Gran-Gran could get along fine without her, and while Sokka would have to do his own dirty cloths, Katara couldn't get too broken up about that. Not to mention after next season he was going to go out with the other warriors anyways. So he wouldn't need her. Some of the kids would miss her, but they all had mothers… or at least there were as many mothers without kids as kids without mother, so it all sort of worked out.

It wasn't like she was really appreciated around here. Gran-Gran was always respecting Sokka, treating him as the warrior. Nor would she be gone forever, once she learned waterbending she could come back on her own. Katara looked at the fang again. She noticed that the design showed a man with a wolf headress, riding a wave. Gripping the treasure, Katara got up and began to pack, careful not to wake anyone else.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"Sokka! Sokka!Wake up!" Sokka opened his eyes as Gran-Gran shook him violently awake.

"What is it, is it an attack!" the panic in Gran-Gran's voice waking him faster than the time his sister had chosen to practice her bending before dawn.

"Worse. Katara is gone!"

"What! Why! Was she kidnapped?"

"No, she's left on her own to go with that Fire Nation ship to the Northern Pole." Gran-Gran was practically in tears.

Sokka stopped, looking into Gran-Gran eyes, his voice utterly serious. "I'll get her back Gran-Gran, I promise."

"No you won't," she said sternly. "That girl, not only has the ability to set things on fire, but also people's spirits, and she's lit a bonfire under Katara's. If we kept her from going now she wouldn't give up, and would probably try to find a teacher in the Southern Water Tribe. At least I know the Northern Tribe is unconquered and united, and nobody opposes the Air Nomads more than the Fire Nation. Much as I hate to admit it, this is the best way."

Sokka stood up, "I'm not going to just let my sister go off alone!"

Gran-Gran cut him off again, "And you won't have to. She hasn't left that long ago, and you're a strong lad. If you hurry you can catch up before she reaches the ship, I want you to go with her and keep her safe."

"But Gran-Gran, I can't leave you…" Sokka put his hand on her shoulder.

"I'll be fine. Our village is well hidden and we're not important enough to attack anyways." She handed him his boomerang.

Sokka understood the gesture immediately, and moved forward to give her a quick hug. "I'll return Gran-Gran. I promise."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Azula smiled as Katara came into view, carrying a rather heavy pack with her. "Katara, what are you doing here?"

"I want to go with you."

"What?"

"I want to go with you. I want to go to the Northern Pole. I want to find a waterbending master. I want to leave."

Azula looked concerned. "Are you sure? I mean you're leaving behind everything you know behind."

Katara looked back in the direction of the village, before turning around again "Yeah, I'm sure."

Azula shrugged. "Alright, it's your choice, but we still need to break the ice."

Katara stopped "Um, about that…."

Azula stepped forward, motioning the rest of the crew inside the ship as she did so. "I may not be a waterbender, and I can't teach you any techniques, but I am quite good at bending. Despite what some people say bending is not magic, it is motion. Do the same motions with the same focus and you will get the same results, every time. Now, what were you doing when the iceberg cracked?"

Katara thought back to the incident "Well our boat had just crashed, and Sokka was acting like an idiot…"

"And you got mad?"

"Exactly, but I really don't know how it happened." Katara answered.

"Well that's good. Almost all firebending is fueled by anger and rage, so it's one area that I'm experienced in." Azula held up three figures. "The first component of bending is focusing on what you want to bend. When you cracked the iceberg you were probably focusing your bending on the iceberg by accident."

Azula lowered the first finger. "The second part of any bending is the motions. Since we need power, not precision, the exact motions aren't important, but try and do something along the lines of what you did last time."

Azula lowered the second finger. "Finally all bending is dependent on internal focus. In order to accomplish this you need to not only focus yourself, but also your emotions. You need to feel the anger, use the rage. Now show me what you can do."

Katara waved her arms up and down, with the ice remaining noticeably frozen the effort looked rather silly. Katara spend several awkward moments trying to bend the ice before throwing her arms down. "I'm sorry. I just can't do it."

"Then you're useless to me."

"What?"

Katara looked up in shock, gone was the friendly smile Azula had worn before, in its place was a harsh frown. "You heard what I said, you're useless. You can't even bend the ice here, you're nothing," Azula's tone reeked of contempt.

"But you said…"

"I said that based on what I was told, but it looks like I was told wrong. I doubt you really even destroyed any iceberg. It was probably just an excuse you and your brother came up with for being late. Face it, you're pathetic, and no real water bender would train you anyways. Now crawl back to you little village." Azula turned and began slowly walking up the gang plank of the ship.

Katara stood there, stunned and open mouthed. "I… I…. NO!" She finally screamed.

Azula whipped around, "What was that?"

"I SAID NO! I am not just going to leave! I left my village for this chance am I am not giving it up."

Azula grinned at the telltale sound of cracks forming in the ice.

"I am so tired of having my waterbending dismissed. Sokka just treats it as bad luck, Gran Gran hides it away, but at least they don't tell me it's pathetic!"

Creeeeek

"And how dare you call me a liar! After you acted so two faced, I cannot believe I ever trusted you!"

CRASH! The cracking ice was no longer able to support the ship's weight and with an almighty splash, the ship finally began moving again. Azula grabbed Katara hand's and she found herself half lead, half dragged up the gangplank.

"What…" Katara saw the smile on Azula's face. "You that on purpose, didn't you?"

"I knew you had it in you, but training someone to focus their rage is a lifetime skill, and we really didn't have that kind of time. So… I gave you a quick boost."

Katara was torn between anger and thankfulness, but then turned towards the northern sky, and all the promise it held. "Thanks…"

One of the Fire Nation guards ran up to Azula and saluted. "Princess, we have a stowaway."

"What! Take me to him immediately." Azula followed the guard below deck, with Katara tagging along behind.

"Hey! Let me go, get your hands off me!" Azula recognized the voice as the idiot, and wasn't surprise when Katara rushed ahead of her.

"Sokka?" Katara ran to him.

"We found him when you were… motivating the waterbender. He tried to rush out from the room he was hiding in." Said the guard to Azula, being discreet enough to make sure Katara didn't overhear him.

"I see…, release him, he's not a threat." The guards on both sides of Sokka let go of his arms.

"Sokka what are you doing here?" asked Katara.

"What else, looking after you," said Sokka as he brushed himself off.

"And what makes you think she needs your help?" Azula asked contemptuously.

"None of your business."

Azula was about to open her mouth before Katara ended up cutting her off. "Sokka, Azula's right, what are you doing here?"

Sokka sighed "Gran Gran sent me to look after you."

"Gran Gran sent you…."

"Yeah. She knew you left the village, and wouldn't be coming back till you learned waterbending. So she sent me to look after you."

"She really did care…."

Azula desperately fought to not roll her eyes at the sentimental display.

"Azula, do you mind if Sokka joins us?"

Azula smiled "Of course not, he'll need to stay in the crew quarters and have to help around the ship, but other than that it's fine." Personally Azula would have liked to throw him off then and there, but that would have resulted in an angry Katara, which could easily lead to a capsized ship.

"Thank you."

Azula began walking away; once she was safely out of earshot she motioned the captain towards her. "I want you to make sure the Water Tribe boy is worked to the bone."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Thanks again to my wonderful Betareader Avocadolove.


	3. The Storm

Note: A quick disclaimer, remember Azula is not only a liar; she is also capable of being wrong. Just because a character believes something doesn't make them right.

**Avatar: The Last Firebender**

**Book 1, chapter 3**

**The Storm**

OoOoOoO

RING RING RING!

"Alright, everybody up!" the guard yelled as he rang the bell. "Morning shift's begun. Everyone up and out!"

Groaning, the sailors and guards stumbled out and began to get dressed and roll up their hammocks. While those who had been on the night shift hung up theirs and began to rest. The guard smiled. In a world gone mad it was nice to be able to at least have authority intact somewhere.

"ZZZZZZZ" the sound of snoring cut through the air, informing the guard that someone wasn't respecting his authority. Following the source of the snore he found the Water Tribe boy that had been let on the night before.

"HEY YOU, GET UP!"

"I'm up Gran Gran. I'm just resting my eyes…"

"I said get up!" Grabbing the hammock, he flipped it over, dropping the boy on the floor.

OoOoOoO

"OWWW, what was that for?" Sokka asked, rubbing his head.

"That was for lazy insubordination," declared a loud voice. Looking up, Sokka saw an overly muscled guard standing over him, grinning at his discomfort.

"Insubordination? I can't be insubordinate, I'm not a subordinate."

"Are you trying to be funny?" The guard bared his teeth at Sokka.

"No! Trust me I'm being perfectly serious, see serious face." Sokka's expression dropped into as somber an expression as he could manage. "It's just that I don't work for you."

"Oh really, cause the princess says that you do. Otherwise you're a stowaway, and you know what we do to stowaways?"

"Throw them a party?"

The guard grinned and leaned forward. "Throw em overboard."

"Right. So what do you want me to do? Steer the ship, man the harpoons, keep a lookout?" Sokka motioned each of the actions as he spoke.

The guard held out a mob a bucket. "Swab the decks."

OoOoOoO

Sokka grumbled as he moved the mob back and forth. "Stupid sister, stupid crazy girl, stupid metal ship."

"What was that?" Yelled one of the guards, who had apparently decided watching him was the greatest entertainment available aboard the ship.

"Nothing! Nothing at all."

"Good, cause if you insulted the princess, I'd have to teach you manners."

Privately, Sokka thought that the lug probably just wanted to lord it over him, but he kept that to himself. A few seconds later Sokka realized something important. "Wait…. Princess?"

"Huh?"

Sokka stopped mopping and turned to the guard. "By Princess, you mean Azula, right? As in, she's a princess?"

"Yup," the guard's chest swelled with pride. "We're the last line between her and the Air Empire raiders carrying her off."

"So what's she doing all the way out here?"

"Well we were going to see Zhao but now.. hey you're trying to trick me ain't yew?"

"Me? Trick you? Impossible, you're far too clever for me."

"That's right, now get back to work, you're not gonna get out of swabbing the decks easily." Sokka rolled his eyes as the guard's chest swelled up again. If what Sokka had heard from Katara last night about Azula's ability was true, then the guards had has much right to be proud of protecting the princess as they did about their cleverness. Still, the conversation had been enlightening. Azula certainly hadn't mentioned being a princess before, and it confirmed his belief that she was hiding things. He couldn't wait to rub this in Katara's face.

As if on cue, Katara and Azula stepped out onto the deck at that moment. "Sokka!" Katara waved as she ran over. "Isn't it amazing? It's only been a day and we're already farther away from home than I've ever been. You can't even see any ice. Oh and you should have seen Azula's room. Some of the artwork there is amazing! She has tapestries, and hand carved statues, and jewelry."

"Well I'm glad you're enjoying the vacation," but Sokka found his sarcasm was utterly ineffective against Katara's current wonder bound state.

"So, how was your night?" Katara asked.

"Oh you know, slept in a hammock in a room with 20 other guys, was dropped on the floor as a wake-up call, a real picnic."

"Hammocks? Oh right, sorry about that, but Azula's room was the only one big enough for two people and you're a boy…"

"I'm so glad enjoyed the princess's room."

Azula faked a yawn "Is something the matter?"

"I don't know princess, why you don't tell me, _princess_." Sokka moved his face closer to her's with each word.

Had either of the siblings been more observant, or known her better, they would have noticed her eyes flashing dangerously for a second, but as it was all they saw was her waving her hand in front of her face "Please keep your morning breath to yourself. Now do you want to say something?"

"Yes, you're a princess of the Fire Nation and you never told us!" said Sokka faced her eye to eye.

Azula returned the stare with an intensity usually applied to firebending. "So? I don't recall you asking."

"Um Azula? Was there some reason you wanted to keep it a secret?" Katara gently inserted herself between the two of them, breaking up the staring match.

"Well, not as such, no. It's just…. I wasn't sure I could trust your village at first. I thought you might be with the Air Empire and I didn't want to be captured. Afterwards, well…. I sort of enjoyed being normal for once, besides I'm only the Fire Lord's cousin. It's not like I'm really in line for succession anyways."

Katara seemed to accept the explanation, while Sokka humped. "So anything else you 'forgot' to tell us?"

Azula pretended to think for a moment. "Actually yes, you missed a spot," she said pointing to the decks.

Katara finally seemed to notice the mop Sokka was carrying. "Sokka, what are you doing being helpful?"

Sokka grimaced "Gee thanks, Katara, you really know how to make a guy feel better about his work, but if you're interested apparently your friend decided I had to scrub the decks."

"It's my ship, and I can't have people lazing around, you wanted passage on the ship, then you're going to have to work for it, just like everyone else."

"Except you two."

"I am the strongest fire bender on the ship, and need to be ready in case of air nomad attacks. Furthermore I train religiously, which I'd be glad to show you _if you continue to insult me_."

"Azula?" Katara interjected, trying to defuse the situation.

"Yes?"

"I really wouldn't mind helping out on the deck. It would be a good chance to practice my waterbending."

"If you really want to, but don't feel obligated. Helping to remove the ice was plenty."

"It's really no trouble. I didn't get many chances at home, and it would be nice to actually have an entire day to practice. I'd like to have something to show when I look for a teacher at the Northern Water Tribe."

"Go ahead." Katara slowly began to bend the soap water out of the bucket, carefully moving it back and forth along the deck. Azula leaned on the rails and watched.

Sokka slowly began to sneak off, before feeling a heavy hand with an extremely firm grasp on his shoulder. "Where do you think you're going?"

Sokka turned to the guard smiling "Oh you know here and there…"

"Nice try, but didn't you hear the princess? Everybody works."

"But Katara's already cleaning the decks, and there isn't another bucket…."

The guard grinned, and Sokka decided he really didn't like the expression. "You're gonna help shove coal."

OoOoOoO

"Princess?" the voice was quiet.

"Yes Captain?"

"Would you like to come to the front of the deck with me for a moment?"

Azula followed the captain to the front of the ship before turning around and whispering back. "I assume it's something important."

"We have…. A bit of a problem…. Well two problems actually."

"Continue…."

"Last night, due to the southern lights, as well as the dangers of the ice, I wasn't able to properly navigate. However, I was once part of the southern fleet and I recognize the type of rock formations around here."

"Annnd…" Azula's annoyance at the story being dragged out showed.

"And I think we're near the Southern Air temple."

"Princess?"

"Quiet. I'm thinking…. What is the other problem?"

The Captain pointed upwards. "Heavy storm clouds on the horizon."

"…..So these storm clouds are from the north?"

"Yes Princess," answered the captain.

"Press on ahead."

"PRINCESS!"

"Keep your voice down" Azula hissed. "The last thing I want is a panic. We've gain an edge on Zhao's fleet, but if we keep searching for another route till we're absolutely certain we're safe we'll lose it for sure. This ship is the fastest in the world and if we can get north of his fleet we're home free. The storm works to our advantage, it will be almost impossible for telescopes to work and most Air Nomads can't fly in storms without their bison. We should be safe."

"But… the Avatar. The southern air temple is his home.

"If the Avatar finds us we're dead, but so what? If Zhao finds us it's the same thing. We have a better chance of sneaking through… and don't give me that look, we do. The Avatar may be able to bend the four elements, but he is not all powerful. It's not like he can predict the future. If he could we never would have gotten this far."

"Yes Princess," the captain answered with all the conviction of a dead man.

OoOoOoO

Sokka wiped his brow. He'd been thrown out of the frying pan in into the fire. Scrubbing the decks had been hard work, but nothing compared to this. The work was hard, hot, and dirty. He was covered with a mixture of sweat and soot. He would have cursed Azula, but that would have entailed opening his mouth in the soot filled room; wasting precious breath, and risking the guard hearing him. Though he wasn't sure it could get much worse.

"Hey kid!" One of the workers grabbed him on the shoulder.

"What?" Sokka asked, cursing himself for jinxing it.

"You want to know what would make this a lot easier?"

"What?" Sokka asked, dreading what the worker meant by "easier".

"Take off your coat."

Sokka stopped and stared, feeling like a complete idiot.

OoOoOoO

Azula watched Katara waterbending around the deck. She was doing pretty much as well as Azula had expected, maybe a little better. She had no problem picking up the water, and her control when moving it in the air wasn't bad, as none of the water dripped. Still, she could only move it slowly and in a globe, and faster movements would result in a loss of control. This would accidentally splash a few of the crew, for which she would profoundly apologize.

Advanced technique's seemed utterly beyond her, the precision needed to create and maintain ice blades or even a basic water whip would be hard, if not impossible to master. Even her basic waterbending was unsteady, collapsing each time it made contact with the deck. Azula almost felt sorry for her, given the Northern Tribe's idiotic policies on waterbending training it was certain she would never be trained. Not that she felt guilty about it, she needed a waterbender, and besides Katara would probably learn a lot from observation anyways.

Bending the water back into the bucket Katara turned to her. "So, what do you think?"

"Well, to be honest your control needs a lot of work. You have plenty of power, but even the most basic waterbenders need to show a lot more control."

Katara frowned "I haven't really had any training to learn control, that's why I'm here. But from what you've seen do you think someone would be willing to train me?"

"I can't make any promises, but I certainly think you're worthy of training." It wasn't a lie, not really. Azula did think that Katara was worthy of training. She may not have precision, but she did have raw power, and while it was better to excel in both, raw power had its uses. Just look at Zhao, one of the best firebenders in the world, even if he was a treacherous weasel, and didn't have a bit of control. In some ways Katara almost seemed a living embodiment of the idiocy of the Northern Water Tribe's policies. She could easily be powerful enough to sink ships with tidal waves, but Azula would eat her own shoe if she ever managed to heal so much as a scratch. She just didn't have the control.

OoOoOoO

Once you got into the pace of things, shoveling coal wasn't that bad, Sokka decided. Well, that might have been a little generous, but it wasn't the all consuming torture it had originally been. It actually reminded him of some of the fishing trips he'd had with his dad, especially the strain of pulling the nets up. The heat was still unbearable even without his coat, and Sokka didn't know how the Fire Nation guys put up with it.

"Hey, any of you guys got any other super cool heat beating tricks?" The shoveling continued, undisrupted, and Sokka gave up on small talk. Idly Sokka wondered how exactly the ship worked. It was obvious the fire somehow powered the ship, but exactly how he couldn't determine. Sokka really hoped that it didn't have something to do with firebending. If the fire somehow allowed the benders to move the ship then it was just one more area he'd never be able to understand.

Staring at the fire Sokka noticed that the flames seemed to be heating something, well something aside from the room. Placed at the back was a large metallic sphere that did not seem to be part of the wall design. Looking closer he noticed two metallic tubes leading off in each direction. Interesting, but it still didn't explain its purpose. Sokka resolved to explore the ship more once he got a chance.

OoOoOoO

Katara concentrated, and, picking up the water, she quickly moved it into a ball, then thrusted it down onto the deck. As it hit the deck she felt her hold on the water collapse, and it began to spill out in each direction. Katara sighed, before remolding the water, directing it around the deck.

"You really shouldn't be getting so worked up about this. It's not like it's the end of the world if you can't."

"But you said that this was one of the most basic skills. How am supposed to learn waterbending if I can't at least do this…."

Azula smiled, and put her hand on Katara's shoulder. "Don't worry about it, it's only been a day. You shouldn't expect to get this so soon."

"But you…"

Azula laughed "I've been trained my entire life, and even then I'm still one of the best. Honestly even if you never master this it's not the end of the world. Blasts of water and tidal waves will still work. Do not set your expectations about waterbending by my abilities to firebend, you're only setting yourself up for disappointment. I'm probably the third best firebender in the world."

"Really?"

Azula nodded "Only surpassed by my father and the Fire Lord" she trailed off, lost in thought.

"You alright?"

"Nothing, I received word of an attack on the capital recently, and I'm not sure if everyone made it."

"Oh…" Katara had only been alive for a few of the raids on her village, but she remembered the terror of the raid itself, and the uncertainty of who would be left when it ended. In some ways this was probably worse. Being so far away you still didn't know who lived and who died. "What about the Avatar? Can you bend fire better than him?" Katara asked, honestly curious.

Azula's hands clenched into fists "I don't count that monster as human…" she muttered before walking off.

OoOoOoO

Azula stared ahead at the oncoming clouds. Why had she told the Katara about the capital? Hadn't she decided to keep them in the dark…

No, it was logical to do. By presenting the information this way there would be no problems should Katara(or her brother) find out about it on their own, but what did she care if they were angry? It wasn't like Azula needed them at this point. Katara might be somewhat useful for her waterbending, but wasn't essential, and her brother was completely useless.

Looking at it logically she was obviously becoming too attached to Katara. Given the loss of Ty Lee and Mai this was not unexpected. Though it was disappointing. She had thought herself above such irrational and overly emotional misplaced actions. Ty Lee and Mai were…gone and Azula was not going to replace them with the first friendly face her age that walked on by. Now that she had figured out the problem, the solution shouldn't be hard. She didn't want to isolate herself, but she had to remember that Katara was an asset, maybe an ally at best. She was not a friend.

Azula was interrupted from her thoughts by the drops of rain that began to fall upon her. Turning around she began to look for the captain, only to notice him standing right in front of her.

"Princess, I've rearranged the shifts to ensure the most experienced crew members are on duty during the storm, with all others on standby. I will be taken the wheel personally."

"Very good, Captain. Order all firebenders to keep an eye to the skies, but _do not_ fire unless I tell them too. I want to remain undetected if at all possible. However if we are found we must ensure they do not report to the Temple. "

The captain bowed." Yes princess."

OoOoOoO

"Alright you, shifts over. Get on out" one of the other workers, who looked like he had had a goat-gorilla somewhere in his ancestry, called out.

Sokka set down his shovel with relief, and set off to find Katara. As he headed down the ship he noticed a second furnace room. Looking into it he was able to make out the shape of another metal contraption, this one bigger than the one he'd seen before. Again he saw two metal tubes comings from it, one heading out to the side, towards the room Sokka had been in and one curving into the wall.

Staring at it as the various crew members and guards ran past him Sokka began to think. Katara could probably wait… and it wasn't like anyone would miss him. She and Azula seemed to be doing fine together. Making his decision, Sokka began to walk along the hallways towards the room where he thought the pipe would lead.

OoOoOoO

Katara stared out of the porthole at the falling rain. Azula had ordered her below deck and out of the way. Granted, she could see why. The storm outside was unlike anything she had ever seen, a water blizzard. Lighting flew around the ship, while waves and wind rocked it back and forth. Most of the guards on the ship were busy with some task or another.

Concentrating on the falling rain, Katara began to consider Azula's words. She knew Azula had been trying to comfort her, but discovering her relative lack of control was still disappointing. Before now Katara had never really met another bender, and when she met Azula she had been astounded and overjoyed at the power a trained bender could wield. Finding out that no matter how hard she tried she was probably never going to be able to come close was rather depressing.

Katara frowned, what was she doing? She hadn't come all this way just to give up on herself like that. So what if she would never be Azula? She could still be herself, and she had a long way to go before she even could begin to reach her limits. If she needed to train her precision and control, she could do it right here.

Opening the port hole and falling into a waterbending stance, Katara moved both her arms, attempting to bend the rain. She was rewarded with the sound of a sheet of rain hitting the side of the boat, which was impressive, but not really what she had been hoping for. She knew she had power. What she needed was control. Again she fell into her stance and moved her arms, trying to only get a single drop of rain; and once again there was the sound of a sheet of rain hitting the side of the boat. Some of it came through the porthole and splashed her. Sighing, Katara fell into her stance a third time.

OoOoOoO

"SPASHPATPATPAT "

Azula looked around, what was that annoying sound? It was the third time she'd heard it and she still couldn't figure out what in the world was making it. "Captain, have someone check the engines."

The Captain nodded, "Yes Princess."

Turning her attention back to the sky Azula held up her telescope. It was near useless in the storm, but near useless was still better than the naked eye.

"Princess I think I see something!" or not, thought Azula as one of the firebenders pointed up. Turning Azula noticed what looked like a small darkened cloud, but seeming to move faster than any of the others.

"Dammit, it's one of their Sky Bison, if anyone does anything to give us away, I will personally throw you overboard. Hopefully they won't catch us, but be prepared to fire on my mark."

OoOoOoO

Sokka's investigations weren't going as well as he had hoped. He had followed the tube, but the only place it seemed to lead was a small room with no doors, and no way to see in it. What were they heating? Thinking back, the tubes went in two directions, if this way produced no answers, the maybe the other way would.

OoOoOoO

Katara stopped, frustrated at her utter lack of progress. So far all she had managed to accomplish was getting her face and the floor right near the porthole wet. Stopping for a second, Katara began to think. What was she doing wrong? She knew she could do better than this, the water she'd manipulated to catch the fish back home had been smaller than this. But back then she'd only used one hand, not both as she was trying to do now.

Reaching out her right hand, she focused on the rain and made a grabbing motion. Water splashed her face, but wasn't accompanied by the sound of an entire sheet of rain being diverted to the ship. Katara smiled and reached out her hand again.

OoOoOoO

Sokka passed two more furnace rooms. Both had the same spherical contraption at the back, though both times the metal sphere was smaller than the last one. Following the pipes, Sokka came upon one more room at the very end of the ship.

"Wow…" An assortment of gears and shafts turned throughout the room. Following those Sokka was able to determine that they ultimately lead to two places. The first was a small metal box with two pipes leading into the walls, and Sokka would bet his boomerang one lead to the furnaces and the other to that metal room. The other was something outside the ship. Thinking about it that was probably what moved the ship, some sort of paddle must turn outside, but how did furnaces and metal pipes lead to turning shafts?

"Well metal box, let's see if you can spill your secrets."

OoOoOoO

Azula held up her hand "Steady…" The bison had not passed away, and was quickly descending. There was no hope of sneaking by, but she needed it close enough that it wouldn't be able to get away.  
"Wait… Wait…" Azula noticed the bison starting to turn around. "FIRE!" Azula shouted, jumping forward and unleashing the largest stream of fire she could. Several red fireballs followed, disappointingly small in the rain.

OoOoOoO

Katara scowled. Her attempts at doing it one-handed were better, but still weren't working. Trying to shake off her depression at failure, Katara began to stare at the rain. Looking outside her mind began to wonder, first at the sheets falling down, then at the individual drops that made it up as they splashed at the side of the porthole.

Katara gasped, "That's it!" Falling back into a waterbending stance Katara once again reached out her hand. Before she had been trying to bend the rain, and get a single drop out, but that wasn't the way it worked. What she needed to do was try to bend the drops themselves. Letting her breath out to calm herself, Katara stared at the port hole, trying to find a single drop to concentrate on.

One finally caught her eye, and she once again made the grabbing motion with her right hand to bend it towards her. Having reflectively closed her eye to avoid the water, she opened them when her face remained dry. Looking at her hand she saw a lot of water, but no drop. Katara sighed.

Just as she was about to give up, she realized something. Maybe it hadn't failed. In the brief period she closed her eyes she had been distracted with the idea of water hitting her face. Maybe that had made her loose her concentration and cause the drop to spill. Katara faced the window once again. Watching the rain carefully she focused, and making sure not to be distracted, she reached out and once again attempted to bend a drop towards her.

Looking into her hand Katara saw a single drop, suspended into midair above her palm. She was so surprised she nearly lost hold of it, but managed to keep it up. "I did it!" she shouted with mixed glee and surprised. Smiling she began to bend the drop from one hand to the other, then throw it up and catch it in midair. She was soon distracted from her joy by the bellow that came from above deck.

"RARRRRAH" A deep moan of pain echoed throughout the ship.

OoOoOoO

Azula smiled, even weakened by the rain and lack of sunlight she had been able to hit the bison, and with enough power to make the beast panic. "Keep firing! We can't let them get away!"

The volleys continued, and seemed to be getting more effective. Even some of the other firebenders flames seemed to be reaching the beast, and she could almost hear the shouts of the nomads on board. In fact, now that Azula thought about it, she _could_ hear the shouts! "EVERYONE GET BACK, IT'S GOING TO CRASH INTO US!" Azula shouted, hoping they could hear her over the rain and bison's roar.

OoOoOoO

Sokka stared at the device, "Hmmmm." Aside from being a large metal box with two tubes going each way, and one shaft coming out that was continuously turning, Sokka couldn't make heads or tails of it. Something it this box caused the shaft to turn, something that needed to be heated. Sokka considered touching the box, but thought better of it when he remembered the furnaces. Putting on the insulated gloves Gran-Gran had knitted for him, Sokka ran his hand across the box.

Touching his glove with the other hand he found it was hot and wet? "Why would it be wet… THAT'S IT! WATER! Water could go through the pipes… no, not water, steam. That's what the furnaces are for; they turn the water into steam. Like Gran-Gran's kettle, and when it escapes they use it to turn some sort of paddle in this box. It all makes sense, well no I still don't know why they need four furnaces, but MOST of it makes sense."Sokka threw up his arms "YESSS!"

Sokka's joy was cut short as he was grabbed on the shoulder by a fire nation man mechanic "HEY KID!" the mechanic growled.

"Wait, wait, I can explain! I was just curious…"

BAM!

Sokka and the mechanic were both knocked off their feet as the ship was impacted "Love to stay and talk but I need to… find my sister, bye." Sokka shouted as he ran out of the room.

OoOoOoO

Azula barely managed to stay on her feet as enormous beast crashed into the deck, and slid off, plowing a few of the guards with it. Given the height at which it had fallen, and the conditions of the sea, they were probably all dead. Nevertheless, the sailors rushed to lower ropes on the off chance one survived.

"Dawa!" shouted one of the airnomads. Azula counted three, two wore the tattoos of master's. The final one wore a wooden medallion around his neck, indicating his position as one of the five head monks of the southern air temple.

"Princess Azula, I presume?" asked the head monk. "I am Tsering.I did not expect to find you out here. Zhao had assured us he had you trapped in the South Pole." He sighed. "You have killed my sky bison and are responsible for several deaths at the taking of your capital. Nevertheless, I am not a violent man. If you surrender now I promise you will be unharmed."

"SURRENDER?" Azula shouted. "You've obviously gone senile old man. I have you outnumbered." Azula launched two quick bursts of fire at Tsering as she spoke.

Without moving from his spot Tsering whipped out his staff and twirled it around, creating a quick whirlwind of air that deflected the fire. "Very well then." Tsenring leapt into the air, bringing his staff down towards Azula.

OoOoOoO

Sokka ran through the ship, trying to find his sister. After the first impact, he'd heard a lot more shouting and what sounded like fighting. Where would Katara be? No, no that wasn't right, what he needed figure out right now was what was going on, he was running around like a polar-chicken with its head cut off. Up, up, he needed to get to the deck and find out what was going on. Hopefully someone up there would know where Katara was.

OoOoOoO

Azula jumped over the sideways airslash, releasing two quick bursts of fire from her feet. The battle was not going well. With the pouring rain her firebenders could barely produce any fire at all, and the two air nomad monks were slowly taking out each of her guards. Meanwhile, she couldn't actually manage to even hit her opponent. Azula dodged another airslice, them put both hands together to unleash a steady stream of fire, hoping to break through his defenses. Once again Tsering spun his staff, creating a cyclone to meet the fire.

"AZULA!" Azula turned for second to see Katara rushing onto the deck.

"GET BACK INSIDE!" she yelled.

"I WANT TO HELP."

"I SAID"… Azula stopped in midsentence, remembering what she had realized earlier. She was obviously becoming too attached to Katara. "Fine, try to take one of the others. I'll deal with this one. She might provide a distraction, and if the fool got herself killed at least she wouldn't endanger the ship. Turning back to the fight at hand, Azula jumped back to avoid an onrushing mini tornado. She then spun to create a fire shield to counter it.

OoOoOoO

Katara rushed forward, bending the water on deck towards the Air Nomad. The water surged forward, but she lost control of it when it hit him. The effect was more like a splash of water than the hard punch she'd hoped for. "A waterbender?" the monk asked, before dodging another blast of fire, and turning to face the guard.

Realizing that the small amounts of water wouldn't work, Katara concentrated on the ocean itself. Bending the water up to hit the monk. As she did a wave rose over the ship, and one by one the combatants turned as they became aware of it.

"STOP YOU IDIOT! YOU'LL CAPSIZE THE SHIP!" Azula shouted. Realizing she was right Katara released the water. Dropping it back into the ocean and rocking the ship as the splash created lesser waves. Once again the air nomad turned to her, now taking her as more than a simple curiosity.

The Air Nomad raised his staff, preparing to send her overboard with a gust of wind. "NIMA!" warned Tsering.

The Air Nomad lowered his staff to a defensive position "but she's an enemy! She's fighting with the firebenders!"

"We are to capture, not kill, waterbenders. You can consider that a personal order from me."

Katara backed away, bumping in the railing. Looking over the edge, she could see the ocean crashing and turning below. Looking forward she saw the monk still advancing, walking slowly so as to insure none of the firebenders would be able to catch him unawares.

Taking a deep breath to calm herself, and stretching out her arms Katara attempted to bend the water one more time. Rather than simply bending the ocean, Katara concentrated on a small section, just like she'd done with the rain. Lifting her arms, Katara called the water up, separating it from the rest as a steady stream rose like a giant sea serpent.

"Surrender, I don't want to ….harm… you" the monk faltered as he saw the water rising. Throwing her arms forward Katara gave a grunt of effort, and directed the stream towards him. The water rushed down, catching the monk before he could move away. She lost control of the water once it hit, but it mattered little as the water behind continued to plow into him. The steady stream drove him along the deck until he hit the opposite railing. The airbender gave a groan before falling down, unconscious.

Katara let out a sigh of relief, before being knocked into the railing by a gust of air from the other monk. She looked up, too dazed to stand as the other monk advanced on her. "Don't worry I'm not going to kill you…" he was cut off by a boomerang to the back of the head, falling forward, unconscious.

"Katara!" Sokka ran towards her. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," she said, rubbing her head. "How's Azula doing?"

OoOoOoO

Azula was seriously beginning to lose her temper at the monk. Not only did he still not have a scratch on him, but he was being so annoyingly cheery about the whole thing. He didn't seem fazed at all by the loss of his companions. In fact she could swear he was grinning wider than before. "Give up you idiot, you can't possible win alone."

"I beg to differ, my fair lady." He replied, batting away another burst of fire. Swinging his staff in a horizontal arc he sent a gust of wind out from him in all directions, knocking firebenders into each other and the railings of the ship. "I am quite capable of taking on multiple opponents. You, on the other hand, can't hit me, and you're getting tired."

Azula couldn't deny that, she couldn't keep this battle up much longer. "You're right. Fire won't hurt you, but what if you get struck by lightning?"

The monk laughed "A Fire Nation Princess? Hoping for a miracle from the spirits? Now I have seen everything."

"I make my own miracles you fool." Shouted Azula as she charged up her hands. Tsering's eyes dawned in comprehension, and he moved his staff to produce a blast of wind, but it was too late, Azula had already fired, and once fired the lightning could not be stopped.

Tsering gave a yell as he was struck. "The Avatar…." He murmured, before falling to the ground, limp.

"Can't help you here. Throw this fool overboard. I don't want corpses on my ship," Azula ordered.

OoOoOoO

Azula looked at the sky. The storm had finally broke, and from what the captain had said they were far enough past the island chain that they were safe from the threat of the Avatar… safer anyways. If the stories were true then Azula doubted any place was truly safe.

Which only left one matter to deal with. Azula turned to the two bound Air Nomads. "You are guilty of attacking a princess of the Fire Nation, as well as her ship and crew. Ten of my men are dead by your hands, including three noncombatants trying to rescue others." One of the Air Nomads looked with defiance in his eyes, but the gags insured he said nothing. "You will be sentenced to execution." Azula formed two blue fires in her hands.

"WHAT?" Katara's voice rang across the room, and Azula silently cursed bringing her and her brother to this. She had felt obligated too, given they were the ones who had knocked them out.

"They are going to be executed." Azula repeated calmly.

"But… you can't just kill them." Katara insisted.

Azula turned to face her "And why not? I didn't see you complaining when I killed the other one. We are at war. I do not have time for such luxuries as mercy."

"But that was in battle, they're helpless…" Katara continued, motioning as she did so.

"Helpless is a relative term with benders. As long as there is air to breathe they are not helpless. It would only be a matter of time before they escape their bonds and cause trouble." Azula turned back around, once again summoning fire to her hands.

"Please," Katara begged "Don't do this."

"And what do you suggest I do?" Azula asked rhetorically.

"The islands." Sokka interjected.

"What?" Azula turned, her fury directed at him.

Sokka stumbled at the look, but managed to continue talking. "The islands. Leave them on one of the islands. They won't be able to get away, but someone will probably eventually pick them up eventually, and by the time they're rescued we'll be long gone."

Azula stopped and closed her eyes, thinking. As she did everyone in the room stared, knowing that the fate of the airbenders was in her hands. The crew present looked around nervously, while Katara rung her hands together as Sokka stood a bit closer to her.

"Fine" Azula said, before hurling her fire forward. The Air Nomads closed their eyes, expecting to be burnt to a crisp.

A second later they opened them again. Looking around they saw she had burned their gliders. "You two are very lucky that I'm feeling merciful today. We will leave you at the next island we come across, and maybe someone will pick you up. Guards lock them up. "

Azula watched as everyone filed out. She was clearly getting far too soft for her own good. Still, Katara had proven her worth, and it wasn't like those two would be able to cause any trouble.

OoOoOoO

Sokka wandered through the ship, unsure of what to do. He should probably report back to the guards, but given Azula had dismissed him he wasn't going to miss an opportunity to avoid work.

"Hey kid, you're the Water Tribe boy, right?"

"Yeah I.." Sokka turned around. The man in front of him was one of the few people on the ship noticeably shorter than him, but made up for it in sheer presence and muscle mass. Recognizing the engineer, Sokka began to babble as fast as he could. "Look I can explain I just got lost and.."

"Shut it."

"Yessir."

"Now the kid, I just have one question. Did you figure that out all on your own?"

"Huh?" Sokka asked, confused.

"The steam engine, I heard you, did you figure out how it works by yourself?"

"Well… yeah pretty much. I mean I still don't know all of it, like what the big room is for or "

"Condensation," Interrupted the engineer.

"Condensation? But couldn't you just use… Oh" Sokka smacked himself. "The salt, it would ruin the boilers wouldn't it?"

The engineer began to laugh and lifted his mask to stare Sokka in the eyes. "It figures, I spend years trying to teach the Fire Nation's best and brightest how to keep a decent ship and some water tribe savage has a better intuitive grasp." The man lifted his mask and smiled, revealing grimy, beardless face. "Name's Houjin, and I'm the engineer for this ship, how'd you like to work for me?"

"Work for you?"

"You've got a bad habit of repeating my words back to me kid. Granted that's how half my apprentices managed to graduate, so I suppose I shouldn't complain. Anyhow I know the Princess wants you working. As the only engineer on the ship, and probably the best engineer in the navy if I do say so myself, I have the captain's ear. If I say I want you, then the captain will be more than happy to assign you to me. Think about it. No more shoveling coal."

"And you'd tell me how the ship works?" Sokka asked.

"Every inch, and the deals off if you so much as think of hugging me."

Luckily, Sokka managed to stop himself in time.

OoOoOoO

**Afterword**: The steam-engine used in this episode was based off a design that used four separate boilers, each putting the steam under greater and greater pressure. Obviously in RL it would not take up 6 rooms, but fire nation tech is steampunk, and in steampunk giant versions of real things is half the fun.

Thanks once again to my wonderful beta-reader and everyone who reviewed. (Click the button, you know you want to!)


	4. The warriors of Kyoshi

**Avatar: The Last Firebender**

**Book 1, Chapter 4**

**The warriors of Kyoshi**

"So this connects the shaft to the rudder, these shafts connect the engine to the paddle, and these gears…. I have no idea what these do, actually." Sokka said as he pointed to a few gears in the wall.

"Raise and lower the catapult." Houjin answered, not looking up from the wall he was checking.

Sokka nodded, "Raise and lower the catapult, of course…. Wait, we have a catapult?"

"Nope."

"…. But-"

"This ship was a modified from a basic cruiser. The upper pagoda was removed to cut down on wind resistance. Since it's an escape vessel rather than a warship, it was decided that the catapults were unneeded. The rooms were converted into furnaces to host the improved engine, but the gears for raising and lowering the floors were kept. Not that they work with the furnaces and walls in the way."

Sokka's stomach grumbled in response.

Houjin laughed "Looks like you're about ready for lunch?"

"Yeah," Sokka sighed wistfully, given it wasn't for another hour.

"Want to go down and get something?"

"We can do that?"

"Technically, no, and you couldn't, but I can. Long as the quartermaster doesn't actually catch me the captain'll turn a blind eye. I'm the only engineer he's got. Though I may not stay that way for long." Houjin laughed as he slapped Sokka on the back.

The two of them walked down the hallways to the storeroom, stopping when Houjin held up his hand. Taking a quick look around the corner, Houjin motioned Sokka to follow. "Good he isn't here. Lazy son of Hog-monkey's probably sleeping. You know I don't know how he ever got selected for duty. I'm sure he was skimming supplies, and he's never awake. He probably got his commander or family to set him up here, looking for a 'cushy job' heh. The little asher hasn't been so hot since we left the capital though."

Houjin tugged at the door. "What am I doing? You're my apprentice, give me a hand here."

"Oh right." Sokka grabbed the door and pulled, finding it surprisingly difficult. With a grunt of effort he managed to open it. Looking inside he saw dozens of crates and barrels lining the room.

"There you have it, all the supplies we could ever need. Now let's see… here we go, barrel of hardtack, not the greatest meal, but will keep you full enough to think." Houjin opened the top, before rapidly backing off, holding his nose.

Sokka bent over to look "What is it? OH MERCIFUL MOON THAT'S WORSE THAN DAD'S SQUID SURPRISE!"

OoOoOoO

Princess Azula pored over the map on the floor of her room. Last night they had been able to establish their position. It turned out they were farther West than they had originally thought.

"We could continue East, like I originally planned, but that would put us going across the Air Temple's island chain again, and some of Zhao's faster ships might have time to catch up…. Going around the Western tip wouldn't be far, but we'd have to pass by the Eastern Air Temple." Azula sighed, "We could cut off time if we could go through the Serpent's Pass, but only if we can get through, and I don't know which of the rivers is big enough." Azula started searching through a box of papers and maps for a more detailed description of the Earth Kingdom's rivers.

Slowly Azula became aware of someone knocking. She looked up. "Just leave it outside. I'm busy right now."

The knocking continued.

Azula sighed, "Fine, come in, but it had better be important." The Captain entered, shoulders hunched, face downward, holding a small wooden chest, "What is it?" she snapped.

He hesitated several second before answering. "We have problem-"

"I can tell that just from looking at you. Now spit it out. This sort of cowardliness from a man who didn't panic at escaping Zhao's fleet is disgusting."

"Yes, Princess." The captain kneeled down and bowed so low his face touched the floor. "Please forgive me Princess. I have failed in my duty to properly inspect the ship."

"That didn't answer my question. What. Went. Wrong?"

"Our food supplies are empty, and the rest our supplies are nearly gone."

"WHAT? What do you mean? I inspected them with you, what happened?" Azula demanded.

"The quartermaster… was apparently not honest. He arranged for us to see what he wanted us to see. He had apparently been selling the real supplies on the side for some time. Each time new supplies were given he would sell the majority off rather than rotate the supplies."

Azula's voice spoke of a barely contained rage "What else?"

"Our unique tools are mostly there, as I would check each one, and rope and other cheap goods are still available. The weapons and iron are mostly gone, only enough to fool my inspections remained. As for the treasures and currencies…" The captain opened the chest, shimmering with gold coins, lifted it up and dumped them on the floor. "False bottoms," the captain explained, pointing to the chest, "filled with rocks to meet the weight. Most of our chests are a third full; though two were kept entirely full in case I needed decided to rift through."

The captain once again bowed fully, his face touching the floor "I have failed my duty as a captain. Had I been more vigilant in inspecting the supplies, this would have been caught months ago, and we would have been fully stocked. I accept my failure and my punishment."

Azula looked at him, a fire forming briefly in her hand, but then she gave a sigh of exasperation and let it disappear. "Get up."

"Princess?"

"Don't think you're forgiven, you failed and were we still at the Fire Nation I would have had you put on trial. Unfortunately we're not, and you're the only captain I have. Killing or imprisoning you would be a waste, and a punishment scar would take too long to heal, plus the supplies to keep it from infecting were probably sold as well."

Azula put her hands behind her back and began pacing around the captain. "You've failed, however you have served loyally and honorably before this. You could have run away at the Capital, you didn't. You could have tried to hand me over to Zhao, you didn't. You could have tried to overrule my orders, you didn't. For that I am willing to grant you a second chance. If you serve competently and honorably until such time as the Fire Nation is restored I will make sure this little blemish is completely overlooked."

The captain bowed gratefully. "Thank you Princess. I promise I will not fail you again."

"See that you don't. Now your first order is to bring the quartermaster to me, in chains. I need to have him executed."

The captain gulped. "It's too late for that."

"WHAT!" Azula screamed, her expression turning furious before managing to calm itself into a smile of indeterminate nature. "Captain, I appreciate the initiative, but don't execute crew members without my order ever again. Do you understand?"

"Princess, you misunderstand. I did not order his execution. He was one of those ordered on deck during the storm. He slipped and went through the opening torn in the railings by the bison. He was not recovered."

"I see…" Azula turned away "How many supplies do we have left?"

"Almost none, a day or two at the most, it was only because he had already moved the supplies for breakfast forward last night that we didn't discover this in the morning."

"….."

"Princess? I may have a suggestion."

Azula turned to face him, annoyance visible on her face "What?"

"Kyoshi Island is not far from here. It supports itself by fishing and agriculture, trading with the more developed towns of the Earth Kingdom. We should be able to find supplies there."

Azula replied, her voice sickly sweet. "Captain? Can you name the current Avatar?"

The captain hesitated, knowing where this was going. "Aang, Princess."

"And before Aang?"

"Roku."

"And before Roku?"

"Kyoshi… Princess."

"That's right. So you want to go to an island, named after the Avatar, and try to get supplies from them, correct?"

The captain could tell he was standing on thin ice "Yes, Princess."

Azula laughed "And here I was under the impression you were a cautious man, what with your reluctance to go near the Air Temple and Southern Pole."

He swore he could almost hear the cracks forming. "I am, Princess. It is simply that I fear something else more."

"Really, and what is that?"

Reaching behind him the captain pulled out a small wooden box. He opened it with caution, trying to keep as far away as possible. Azula looked inside, and held her nose in disgust. "Point made. Set a course for Kyoshi Island." The captain closed the box, and quickly ran out of the room. Azula sat on her bed, annoyed. She really wanted to burn something right now, but everything in this room was far too valuable. Brightening up, she realized that they'd need to dispose of the empty supplies, and while burning the food would create a smell she didn't want to think of experiencing, the empty crates should burn quite nicely.

OoOoOoO

Sokka crouched at the railing, holding the final nail steady. With the supplies raided they had had to make do with what they could. He had hit upon the idea of using the now empty crates as a source of wood to repair the railing. The only problem had been holding the wood to the metal. They had eventually hit upon the idea of clamping the top piece to the sides, and connecting all the other pieces via nails. It wouldn't survive a strong impact, but it was better than nothing. Sokka swung the hammer.

"Get up!" Azula ordered with contempt.

"OWWWW" Sokka yelled with pain. "What was that for?" he demanded, nursing his injured thumb.

"I ordered you to get up. I have a job for you. Though if you're as incompetent at it as you are at nailing, I may be better served leaving you behind."

Sokka seethed, considering a few choice words before thinking better of them. "Leave me behind?"

OoOoOoO

Azula stood on the beach turning to face the two water tribe siblings "Now remember, we got caught in the storm and blow off course. My mother was from the Fire Nation, but fled to the Southern Water Tribe which accounts for my eyes and skin color. Got it?" Azula asked, looking at Sokka specifically.

"Yes _Princess_. I got it."

"And don't call me that, idiot. I need a Water Tribe sounding name …. Yue… no they might actually recognize that..Yuegoda." Azula started walking forward. "Unfortunately the only direct reports we have on the island are over eighty years old at this point, though there's more recent secondhand information. The main threat is a group known as the Kyoshi Warriors. From the reports they are a group of female fighters whose dress and make-up imitates Avatar Kyoshi, and serve as the Air Nomad's enforcers on the island."

"Oh a bunch of girls in make-up, I'm so scared." Sokka rolled his eyes.

Holding up her hand Azula made a small flame between her thumb and pointier finger. She then flicked Sokka's direction, creating shower of sparks over his head.

"AH!" Sokka yelled, jumping back while Katara tried, and failed, not to laugh.

"Good, I'm so glad that we have a brave man to protect us. It's not like girls could possibly be a threat." Azula added while Katara continued to crack up.

"Not if they don't have magic fire to play around with." Sokka mumbled.

"What was that?"

"I said that you shouldn't firebend, it would just give you away."

Azula frowned, annoyed that the idiot had a point. "Hopefully we'll be able to avoid them all together and get supplies. We're looking for a farm or fishing dock, once we find one we can arrange for supplies to be brought near the ship."

"The Fire Nation ship, the giant metallic ship that we're trying to hide?"

"Unless you want to carry them yourself, I find nothing makes a man blind as well as the glitter of gold."

Azula walked a few step before turning around "And stop staring at the grass, it isn't that interesting."

OoOoOoO

Azula looked ahead, the outline of a farmhouse clearly visible upon the horizon. "Perfect, keep a sharp eye out for anyone or anything suspicious."

"Sokka, I don't think she meant the Pig-Cows"

"That's just what they want you to think, Katara. That's just what they want you to think."

Katara and Azula rolled their eyes and continued walking as Sokka stared down the animals.

Seeing no one outside, Azula walked up and knocked at the door. "I'm coming, I'm coming" screamed a voice from inside. A few seconds later the door was opened by an old lady squinting one eye at Azula. "Whadya want?" she asked.

"We would like to purchase supplies."

"This ain't no inn, you stupid kids. It's a farm. We don't deal in single meals-" The woman stopped as a large amount of Earth Kingdom money appeared in Azula's hand.

"I assure you we are not talking a trivial amount. My ship has lost its supplies in the rain and we need to restock."

"Well certainty, just come into town tomorrow and we can discuss price…" the woman answered, her voice suddenly sweet. The money was replaced by a single gold coin. "Or we can just do business here. Never liked those meddling busybodies in town, anyways."

"Excellent, you raise pig-cows, correct?" The women nodded and Azula pulled out a list. "This is all we will need. Have it salted, barreled and ready for delivery in three days. I will meet you here and direct you to where the ship is anchored."

"THREE DAYS! Are you insane-" A second gold coin was added to the first, the woman stopped. "Three days, sure."

She began to reach out for the gold coins only to have them pulled away. "Payment will be given upon delivery, if we are forced to leave early…." The women nodded. "One last thing, could you direct me to where I can find other farms and fisherman in the area, preferably without meeting any… unnecessary annoyances."

OoOoOoO

Azula stood outside, facing Katara and Sokka. "Unfortunately the dock, the nearest rice farm, and the nearest vegetable farm are all a good distance away. I can't get to each of them today, and we need to give them as much time as possible to get the supplies ready. I don't want to stay any longer than I absolutely have and I don't want to have to stop for supplies again until we are out of the Air Empire's territory."

Azula pulled out two small pieces of paper. "Here are the lists of what we need. Sokka, you will take the cabbage farm, Katara you head to the rice farm. Both are big enough they should be able to supply us alone. I'll head to the outer docks. Given the multiple ships involved the negotiations there are going to be more delicate. Delivery will be in three days, and make sure they do not tell the authorities. Meet at the ship at sundown and _don't, get, caught_. Before you reveal everything about yourself, make sure they will accept the money, two gold coins is plenty. Don't let them out negotiate you, got it?"

Both siblings nodded. Azula gave them a look that said that she clearly didn't trust there competence in this area. "Actually, take this just to be sure." Azula said as she flung an extra coin at each of them and headed off. She wanted to give more instructions, but knew she couldn't waste the time. She'd just have to hope Katara's gullibility or Sokka's idiocy didn't screw things up.

OoOoOoO

Sokka walked through the forest. Despite what Azula said the grass was fascinating. Never in his life had he seen such plant life; what had really amazed him was wherever he had removed the snow there had actually been dead grass underneath! Sokka continued to look around, taking in all the different trees and plants. Even the arctic forests back home had nothing on this.

"AH, MY CABBAGES!" Snapping out of his thoughts, Sokka looked down to see that he had just stepped on one of the aforementioned cabbages. Now an angry man in a turban and earth kingdom garb was running towards him.

Sokka held up his hands. "I can pay for that!"

"You bet you're gonna pay for it, desecrating my innocent cabbages you, you…" the cabbage farmer struggled to find a word.

"No really, I mean it. I can pay for that one, and a lot more besides." Sokka fished out one of the gold coins.

The cabbage farmer stopped, smiling, he leaned forward. "Well now, why didn't you say so earlier, young master."

Sokka pulled out the list, handing it to him. "This is what we need."

The merchant nodded, inspecting the list. "Certainly, come back in two weeks and I can have it ready."

"Actually we're gonna need it delivered, at the pig-cow farm up the road in three days."

"THREE DAYS! That's not enough time to package and harvest all those cabbages. I can't possibly do that." Unlike Azula, Sokka was not fast getting his coin out to cut the merchant off midrant.

The farmer stopped, looking at both coins, he thought for a second before coming to a decision "Actually… if I hire extra laborers I should be able to do it. Now about payment…"

"Nu uh" said Sokka as he put the coins back in his bag. "You get paid when you deliver."

The farmer grumbled, but nodded. Between this and the deliveries for the town and Air Temple he should be able to sell his entire crop, which meant not traveling all over the Earth Kingdom. No dealings with Omashu's angry guards, no Air Nomads or rebels blowing them away or crushing them, no platypus-bears… This was starting to sound like a good year.

OoOoOoO

Sokka walked away, smiling. He had handled that perfectly, and only agreed to two coins, showed what Azula knew. Course, not like she really knew anything. Imagine, being afraid of a bunch of girls in makeup! "Oh look, a Kyoshi Warrior, make-up and dresses. I'm so scared." Sokka said, in a high-pitched bad intimidation of Azula's voice.

"HAAAAA-"

The next thirty seconds were a confused blur for Sokka, something green dropped from the trees, landing on him and driving him to the ground. The next thing he knew his arms were tied behind his back and someone was tying up his legs. Sokka turned to face his attacker, getting gagged in the mouth for his troubles.

"Good, because you should afraid of us," declared the Kyoshi Warrior.

OoOoOoO

Azula walked back to the ship, the trip to the outer docks had been successful. She was sure that none of the fishermen were going to announce their presence, and she'd even managed to arrange an offshore delivery with one of the ships to keep them stocked until the rest of the supplies were ready. Now all she had to worry about was that the other deliveries weren't screwed-up, which admittedly was like saying that all she had to worry about was the Air Empire.

Azula marched forward, trying to get her thoughts off of Katara falling for some idiotic sob story or Sokka tripping and loosing the coins, or worse, revealing themselves to the authorities. She should have just gone the next day. It would have meant fewer supplies or a delay of day or two, but at least she could be sure of not screwing it up.

Looking down the road Azula noticed Katara waving to her and smiling. At least one of them made it out fine, now where was the idiot?

OoOoOoO

After being carried through the forest Sokka was thrown into a bare wooden room and locked in. He had been waiting in it for at least two hours before someone finally came back. He heard the door opening and the Kyoshi Warrior who captured him walked in, flanked by two others. At least he thought she was. Between the makeup and the quick capture it was hard to tell.

"Who are you, and what are you doing infiltrating our island?" She demanded, thrusting her fans forward with each word.

Sokka held up his hands "Look, lady I don't know what you're talking about? I just got lost and…"

"Shut it! We know you're up to something. Who are you? What are you doing on Kyoshi Island? Where did you come from?"

"My name's Sokka. I'm from the Southern Water Tribe. I was out fishing when a storm blew up and I found myself here, which I guess must be Kyoshi Island. Now could you tell me what is going on here?"

"Don't lie to me, we were warned about Fire Nation vessels in the area."

Sokka wordlessly looked down at his obviously water tribe clothing.

The other warriors began to look uncomfortable, while the one in front stopped pacing. Clearly the interrogation was not going the way she wanted. "…. Wait, you say you got lost and didn't know where you were?"

"Yeah I-"

"A HA! I tracked you in the woods, if you didn't know where you were then why were you mocking the _Kyoshi_ _Warriors_?" The girl put her hands on her hips, looking very pleased with herself.

Sokka's face fell for a moment, "Um…. look I had just talked with the cabbage guy and he said this was Kyoshi Island."

"Then why were you mocking us? If you were really innocent you'd have nothing to fear."

"Cause jumping me was such a reasonable action…"

The girl's face soured at this "Well, fine. I'm going to go question the cabbage merchant, and for your sake he better back your story up." The girls left, and Sokka put his hand behind his head and leaned back on the wooden part of the building. The "cell" was clearly some sort of barn or store room that had been hastily converted. It was out in the forest, probably to keep the 'dangerous spy' far away from the town. He supposed he should be grateful that it even had a small opening to look outside, between it and the ham-fisted interrogation, Sokka was pretty sure this was their first time capturing anyone. But if they had never fought before, what did that say about him getting caught?

OoOoOoO

Katara looked around, it was already night and Sokka still wasn't back. The ship had returned to the shoreline an hour ago and was waiting for them to board. She was really getting worried. "Azula? Do think maybe we could go out and look for Sokka?"

Azula did not look happy. "Well… actually it's getting late and I really don't want the ship so close to shore any longer than it has to be. Why don't we go onto the ship and look for him in the morning? He probably just got lost."

"Couldn't we just look for him tonight?" Katara replied.

Azula pointed into the woods. "It's pitch-black right now."

"Couldn't we bring some lights?" Azula wordlessly created a small flame while rolling her eyes at Katara. "No, I mean, I know firebending would be too dangerous. I meant _without_ fire bending, just ordinary torches?"

"Unfortunately given the situation I doubt we have any or at least not enough we can risk it. Look I promise we'll head back in the morning. We can check with the cabbage farm then. Maybe it was far enough away he just decided to stay the night…"

Katara looked back, clearly uncomfortable with the idea, but turned around and followed Azula onto the ship.

OoOoOoO

Sokka looked up as the door opened again. The girl walked in, carrying a sleeping back and pillow, frustration showing on her face. "So…" Sokka asked, "Find anything?"

"No." She admitted angrily, "but don't think I've given up, I know you were up to something. We found the gold in your bag."

"Is it a crime to carry around money?" Sokka asked rhetorically.

"No, but no one carries that much gold without a reason, and I will find it." She tossed the sleeping bag and pillow to him. "Here." Sokka grabbed them just as the girl walked out. Settling in for the night, he hoped Katara was doing better than he was.

OoOoOoO

Suki was annoyed. Yesterday she had been so exited. When the Air Nomads had first warned her that a Fire Nation ship was in the area she had had everyone patrol the island, but wasn't really expecting anything. Then she had actually seen an intruder, and now… she couldn't find anything on him. She _knew_ he was up to something. People didn't carry around that much money to go fishing. Most people never carried that much money in their entire lives. Something was up. Suki continued down the road to the prisoner, flanked by two other warriors.

Looking inside she saw that he was still asleep. "Get up!"

Sokka yawned, rising from the bed, shirtless "Hey, while I know my body is absolutely perfect. I'm really going to have to request a little privacy."

"Ugggh" Suki turned away, grinding her teeth. Did he ever manage to shut-up? A few minutes later she turned back to see him once again dressed in his Water Tribe outfit. Opening the door she prepared for another round of incredibly annoying questioning.

"So find anything, or am I free to go?"

Suki smiled "As a matter of fact I did. Several outlying farms just hired incredibly large amounts of workers today. What are they up to?"

Sokka shrugged. "I don't know... isn't it around harvest season?"

"Don't give me that! Harvest season lasts long enough they shouldn't need near this many workers. Something big is going on and one of the farms doing it is the cabbage farm you visited, which probably explains the gold."

"Look I really don't know Ms. … Air Empire guard I-"

If this had been a proper interrogation, with a dark room, lamps on the prisoner's face and a table, this would have been the point Suki would have slammed her fist on the table. Unfortunately for her it wasn't, and while she may have been somewhat overeager in her capturing, she wasn't violent towards prisoners. So she had to settle for making a fist and slamming it into her other hand. "I am not an Air Empire guard. I am the captain of the Kyoshi Warriors."

For the first time Sokka actually looked worried. He could tell he was walking on an exploding-porcupine. At the same time he couldn't resist going further. "Really, is that some sort of volunteer-"

"The Kyoshi warriors are the main military force of Kyoshi Island. Kyoshi Island is _not_ under Air Nomad control. We merely are allied with them and take advice from the wisdom of the head monks. We are exclusively loyal to Avatar Aang and follow his orders. In fact the entire idea of the 'Air Empire' in thing more than propagan-"

"Okay, Okay." Sokka held up his hands in defense against the oncoming rant. "No Air Empire. I got it."

"Look are you going to actually tell us anything or are we going to have to feed you to the Unagi?"

"Unagi?"

Suki grinned, Sokka got the feeling he wasn't going to like what was going. "Let me tell you about the Unagi…"

OoOoOoO

Azula barely dodged the water blasts of the monster, firing a few fire blasts back. The monster screamed, diving below the surface to escape the fire. "Watch out. It could surface anywhere!" She yelled to the rest of the deck.

The ship rumbled. "It's trying to sink us from below!" Shouted one of the sailors.

"Captain, turn us around. Head out to sea!" Azula yelled.

"What about the landing?" Katara yelled.

"We'll find someplace else!"

Evidently figuring out the metallic ship was far tougher than the wooden ships it was used to dealing with and it was hurting itself more than the ship by ramming it, the creature gave a roar of frustration and pain as it rose up once again. Katara attempted to bend the water from the ship, diverting it somewhat and avoiding a direct hit.

OoOoOoO

"cause an ambush is such a fair fight." Sokka mumbled.

Suki's ears perked up. She wasn't quite sure how the topic had changed from threatening him with the Unagi to the fighting skills of the Kyoshi Warriors, but this was the last straw! No one insulted her or her warriors! "So you think you can take me in a fair fight, is that it?"

"I'm just saying that you ambushed me, and I didn't know the land well."

Thinking for a second, Suki grinned. "Oh really?"

OoOoOoO

Sokka was escorted along the path to one of the other buildings, flanked by the other two Kyoshi warriors.

The leader, who he still hadn't gotten a name or nickname (it would have been angry girl, but Azula already had that spot claimed) opened the door. Stepping inside, Sokka saw that the room was mostly bare, with a few fans handing on the sides.

"This is the Kyoshi dojo. Normally only warriors train here, but I'm willing to make an exception. Now, face me!" she ordered, whipping out two small fans.

"With what, my bare hands?"

The girl rolled her eyes in annoyance. Sliding another door open she revealed a rack of weapons. "Feel free to take any one you like. We really don't have any use for them."

Sokka moved forward, looking along the weapons before selecting a small club.

"I thought you would go for the spear or sword."

Sokka rubbed his neck "Well I thought about it, but I really don't want to hurt you too much."

"How noble, but I really don't think you have to worry about that."

OoOoOoO

"Captain, how extensive is the damage."

The Captain saluted. "Most of the ship is relatively intact. However the outer paddle was damaged in the fighting, and made worse due to continuing use after the damage."

"Can it be repaired?"

"The engineer believes so. The main problem is we are dead in the water and can't get to any dock to repair. If it is a simple jam then we could rig up some cables and have it mostly fixed in a day or two. Though our speed would still be reduced, however if it is actual damage…"

"Then let us hope it is simply a jam. Order him to get to work, dismissed." The Captain saluted and left the room. Azula sighed, when they had spotted the open bay it had seemed like a perfect place for a landing. Hidden away from the original landing spot, there would be no chance of being ambushed had the idiot been captured and given away everything. She should have know that there would be a reason that such a perfect bay was abandoned, and now the ship was dead in the water and might never recover. At least she wouldn't have to worry about getting found out on the island for a few days.

OoOoOoO

Sokka lay face down. His world was pain. Thinking back, it was a really stupid idea to continue to try to annoy his capture as much as possible and then agree to a fight. He hadn't been able to land one hit and was already covered with bruises.

"Give up yet?"

"I'm…. just…. Catching my breath …" Sokka wheezed.

OoOoOoO

A few minutes later Suki decided that the sight of a wheezing Sokka lying on the ground was really more pathetic than satisfying, and ended up escorting him back to his cell. Heading back to the village she was stopped by one of her warriors, running towards her. "Captain!" she saluted with a smile.

"Did you find out what the workers are doing? Aiding the Fire Nation? Preparing for invasion? Betraying us?" Suki asked.

She hesitated before answering "Err, actually they were just helping harvest as far as well could tell." Seeing Suki's annoyed look she continued, "But I did find out something. As I was walking along the Northern road I heard the Unagi give a large cry. I rushed over, hoping to help anyone who survived the wreck, but to my surprise the ship didn't sink after a few blasts of water. When I looked closer I realized that not only was the ship made of metal, but was firing streaks of fire back at the Unagi."

Suki grinned, she had been right. "I knew there was something going on."

OoOoOoO

The next day the Suki and her two guards came again, switching off with the night guard. Unfortunately, the interrogation had hit a snag before it had gotten off the ground. "You stink!" She took a step back, holding her nose.

"I haven't had a change of clothes or washed since I got here. What did you expect?"

Some part of Suki rebelled against the idea of taking Sokka to one of Kyoshi's indoor hot springs, but it was quickly overruled by the smell, and taking him to one of the lakes would have entailed either watching him or letting him have a chance to escape. A valiant effort was put forth by part of the brain to argue that the former wasn't a bad idea, but was quickly quashed by a joint effort on the part of pride and sensibility.

OoOoOoO

"Follow me," she motioned, while the two other guards she always came with (or maybe they were different each time, Sokka really could tell the rest of them apart under all the makeup) followed on each side.

Stepping into the wooden building, Sokka striped down and hung his clothes over the side of the door. He should have known better. In fact, he did know better, but he really couldn't resist pushing her buttons one last time. "These clothes are water-tribe made, so they don't soak very well, but sweat doesn't get into them, so don't strain yourself."

OoOoOoO

The utter arrogance! Not only did the little prick seem to expect her to wash his clothes, but the condescending tone of voice he use. Still, Suki had to do something. She couldn't let him walk around naked… Suki smiled, she had the _perfect_ idea.

"You two wait here. I'll be right back."

OoOoOoO

Sokka's danger sense went off the moment he finished drying off, he could hear giggling. Even with Sokka's limited experience with girls he still knew that giggling was never good. Looking at the door he saw what was so amusing.

It hung over the door. It was pink, it was fluffy and probably most importantly, it was a dress. "Oh No, no no no."

OoOoOoO

Suki tried to stop herself from laughing, she really did.

"There. I wore your stupid dress. Now give me back my clothes."

"Hehe..no way… hehe… if you want them back…Snort… You have to earn them."

Sokka was torn between riotous fury and utter embarrassment. "Earn them?"

"Face me in the dojo again, both of us using fans this time. If you can knock me down even once, I'll return them. I'll even make sure they're clean."

Sokka put a look of determination on his face "I accept." Unfortunately the look, combined with the pink dress only sent all three Kyoshi Warriors back into peals of laughter.

OoOoOoO

Suki laughed as the fan went flying out the window. "You're doing it wrong, it is not about strength, it is about using your opponent's force against them and waiting until the right moment to strike."

Surprisingly Sokka didn't even grumble at the advice. He, instead silently retrieved his weapon. Suki wondered if he was finally learning respect. She moved forward to strike, and this time Sokka actually blocked the first two, rather than simply blindly counterattack. The momentum of the fight quickly turned against her, as Sokka knocked her weapons back with a block and moved forward to push her over. Luckily, she still had one last thing up her sleeve.

"Just so you know, one of my warriors happened to see a Fire Nation ship in the area yesterday. It was attacked by the Unagi."

"What?! Are they alright?!" Suki's description of the Unagi had been quite through the yesterday.

Sokka's moment of hesitation was all she needed to take control of the fight and send him to the ground. "Don't worry, the ship got away, but thanks for confirming that you care about it."

Sokka held up his hands, "No, I-"

Suki smiled, finally having gotten the better of him in a verbal spar. "You'll be escorted back to your cell to think about your options. If not than one of the Air Nomad masters should be coming in two days and maybe he can convince you."

OoOoOoO

Sokka lay in his cell. He had blown it. They knew about the ship, they knew he was connected with it, and tomorrow night was the night when it was supposed to leave. If he wasn't with it… Azula would leave without him and Katara just might go with her. That wasn't what he was really worried about, what he was really worried about was that she would try to rescue him on his own. He had to get out of here, but the door was locked, the walls were sturdy, one of the Kyoshi Warriors was right outside and he was in a pink dress.

OoOoOoO

"So you ready to talk?" she asked, and Sokka grumbled in response. "Fine then, I'll just leave you here."

"What's the matter, couldn't win yesterday without cheap tricks?" Sokka asked.

Suki laughed, "Cheap tricks? There was nothing but pure skill was in that last match."

"Oh really, cause I think I just about had you on that last round. You were afraid I would win."

"I was afraid you would try to weasel out of the truth, so I waited until you were distracted to test you, and now that I know I have absolutely no reason to fight you again."

OoOoOoO

Suki lunged forward, determined to end this match quickly. She didn't even know why she gave in. She had already beaten him so many times she lost count over the last two days. Seeing a break in his defenses she lunged forward, only to have him knock her hands away, using the opening he put one of his legs behind her while his arms pushed her down.

"HA!" Sokka shouted triumphantly.

"What! No I just… tripped."

"No way, I got, you admit it, I got you!"

"Fine.." Suki grumbled, she didn't like it, but she was a woman of her word.

OoOoOoO

It was already dusk, and the guard should be due to change any minute. Desperately Sokka tried to think of a plan. If he didn't get out tonight….

Looking outside, he actually recognized who was guarding him this time. "Hey."

She turned to look at him, before her back to him. "Hey."

Sokka was surprised, before her voice had always had a somewhat angry sound to it, now it sounded… sadder, calmer? Maybe it was just a trick of the light…. on her voice… yeah, that made sense. "You know, I never really caught your name."

"It's Suki."

"Oh really, well um..." Sokka rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, but he wasn't likely to see her again, either because he escaped or the Air Nomad came, and it needed to be said. "I want to apologize."

Suki turned around, "What?"

"For all the things I said. I wasn't being fair, and it was just stupid of me to assume you were weaker because you were a girl."

"… Thanks."

Sokka continued "Also I'm sorry about the Air Empire thing, I know that really got on your nerves with it and-"

"Don't be."

Sokka's looked up, surprised. "What?"

"I said don't be!" Suki snapped, clearly annoyed. Seeing the look on Sokka's face she gave a sigh and turned back around, looking at the stars. She continued speaking in the more subdued voice "You were right."

"I was? But I thought-"

"Officially, what I told you was true but..."Suki turned around, facing Sokka. "Do you know why I'm the head of the Kyoshi Warriors, instead of my mother?"

"Err..." truthfully, Sokka really hadn't thought about it. Being motherless was normal to him.

"She's off in some area of the Earth Kingdoms-- I'm not even sure where at this point -- helping to suppress 'insurrections' against the rightful rulers. We barely have contact with them, why should we care who rules in the other Earth Kingdoms?" Suki's hands clenched into fists "But she was given an order to go."

"By the Avatar?"

Suki sighed once again "Do you know why Kyoshi Island admires the Avatar?"

Sokka hesitated, "Because he's powerful?"

"No, because of Avatar Kyoshi. About 200 years ago Kyoshi saved the island from a man known as 'Chin the Conqueror', and now…" Suki trailed off.

"The current Avatar is doing the exact same thing." Sokka finished.

Suki was silent for a few moments before replying, "Yeah. You know my mother still admires him? She talks about all the times he would come to visit, to just talk with the people. He doesn't do that anymore. I mean, once a year he comes, but it's just a quick display of power, some word to the crowd and then he's gone. I don't think I've ever met him personally."

Sokka stopped for a few moments, not sure how to digest all this information. So he joined Suki in looking outside. It was looking outside that he remembered what night it actually was, and why he had started the conversation in the first place… Now that he thought about it, he was kind of annoyed. It had actually made him feel sort of bad about what he was going to do.

Grabbing the skin of water left in the cell for him, he began to drink. About halfway through he spit some of the water out and clutched his throat, making choking noises."AHACK, AHA."

Suki turned around, "Are you alright?" she asked in alarm. His only response was to fall down and begin writhing on the ground. Suki quickly brought out the key and opened the door, rushing in to help. As she got close to Sokka, he got up and lunged. Sokka quickly put his arm around her waist and flipped her over with one arm, while using the other to take the key out of her hand. Sokka ran outside before she could recover and slammed the door shut, locking it behind him.

"WHY YOU!"

"Sorry Suki," Sokka whispered back.

"You're going to be, THE PRISONER'S ESCAPING!" she yelled at the top of her lungs.

A few days ago, Sokka, unused to the forest, probably wouldn't have noticed anything, but tonight he was sure he heard the sounds of several people moving. Taking off at a dead run he didn't even both to remove the key from the lock. Hoping he had the directions right he ran what he thought was eastward.

OoOoOoO

Reaching her arm through the opening in the door, Suki finally managed to get a hold of the key. Twisting it slightly she leaned the rest of her weight on the door, forcing it open. Stumbling a few second as the door was forced open with her arm in the opening she managed to recover before injuring anything. She instantly took off at a full run in the direction Sokka was heading. There was no way that jerk was getting away from her!

OoOoOoO

With what seemed to be to the entire Kyoshi Island Warriors on his tail Sokka had given up all hope of subtlety, instead opting for terrified screaming. While it did make his position slightly easier to track, it had two main advantages. First, it would let anyone on the ship know he was coming. Second, between the unfamiliar landscapes in dark, not know if he was headed the right way, and being chased by people he couldn't even see and barely hear, he really felt like screaming.

Sokka stumbled through the rough terrain, but picked himself as fast as possible. One of the few advantages of being a cosmic plaything is that you learn how to recover from a fall or injury real quickly. Sokka continued running, finally bursting into the open fields of the pig-cow farm. Unfortunately, (or maybe fortunately?) he didn't see anyone there. Sokka took advantage of the open field to take a quick glace behind him. What he saw made him find reserves of strength and speed he didn't know he had. The white face paint and moonlight had provided him with a good look at what was behind him, not only were what looked like the all the Kyoshi Warriors he had seen chasing him, but in the lead was a really pissed-off looking Suki.

OoOoOoO

"Azula about Sokka…"

Azula attempted to brush Katara off. "I said we'll deal with it in a minute. We still haven't quite finished. You there, watch the barrel. I don't want it spilled." Katara wondered off, and Azula mentally sighed. She still hadn't figured out what to do about the idiot going missing. He hadn't turned up when they had got back which meant he was probably captured. Given the food situation she had still risked going out and getting the supplies, but luckily there had not been an ambush. Now the only thing she had to worry about was how to leave.

Katara wasn't willing to abandon her brother, but Azula wasn't willing to storm the town. She couldn't just leave Katara here, given her waterbending talents if Katara got mad… Azula was really annoyed, why had she thought of something earlier. Why had she put it off until the absolute last minute?

"We're almost done." The captain announced. Azula started to pay the various farmers who had delivered the supplies. The rice farmer had actually expected three coins, but she had managed to talk him down. Unfortunately, the idiot's capture had still left her with three less than she had been expecting, if anything thing else came up they would be desperately short on cash for bribes or supplies.

"ahhhh"

Azula stopped for a second, she thought she could hear something… maybe it was simply the wind.

"Ahhhhhhh"

This time she definitely heard it, and it was getting louder. By now several other people could hear it, and had stopped to look for the source.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!"

The source of the noise finally became clear when Sokka burst out of the trees at a dead run, yelling at the top of his lungs. The reason for the scream became clear a few moments later when several green and black figures burst forth from the trees, intent on chasing Sokka down. They stopped a second when they noticed the ship before the lead one yelled "FIRE NATION, GET THEM!" and then charged forth once again.

Several of the firebenders and guards dropped into fighting stances "NO YOU IDIOTS!" Azula yelled. "Get on the ship, NOW." Obeying her they dropped whatever they were doing or holding and rushed onto the gangplank.

"MY CABBAG-" The merchant started to yell before realizing that they were already paid for, he was technically collaborating with the Fire Nation and the Kyoshi Warriors were close enough they might notice him if he didn't get out of there while they were focused on something else.

Katara leaned over the railing "SOKKA! He's not going to make it." The Kyoshi Warriors were closing in on him, and while everyone else was on the ship, he was a good twenty yards away. "We have to help him," declared Katara, as she headed down the gangplank.

Azula blocked her way, holding out her arm. "Don't, you'll just get caught."

"But-"

Azula's response was a stream of blue fire, directed between the Kyoshi Warrior s and Sokka. They slid to a halt just before coming into contact with it, while Sokka continued to run. Though whether from fear of the Kyoshi Warriors or Azula nearly turning him into a deep fried turkey-duck, no one could tell. Running up the gangplank, Sokka collapsed once he got to the ship. Azula immediately ordered the ship to go, leaving behind a very angry group of Kyoshi Warriors.

OoOoOoO

Sokka leaned on the railing, facing the shrinking figure of Kyoshi Island.

"Sokka, are you alright?" Katara asked.

Turning around Sokka gave a smile "I'm fine Katara. They took me prisoner, but didn't find anything out, and they were waiting for an Air Nomad to come and interrogate me."

"So you're okay? Nothing happened? Do you know how worried you made me?"

Sokka turned around, ignoring his sister's rant. Facing Kyoshi Island he mumbled to himself "Yeah… nothing happened."

OoOoOoO

**Afterword:** Thanks again to my wonderful beta-reader Avocadolove, and to everyone who reviewed.

I'd really like to know what you think of the OC's so far, do they work?


	5. The Noose

**Avatar: Last Firebender**

**Book 1, Volume 5 **

**The Noose**

"Incoming!" screamed one of the sailors.

CRUNCH!

The sound of metal twisting as the projectile hit the deck reverberated throughout the ship. Screeching and groaning under the weight and heat. Azula quickly bent the flames out while Katara brought up a stream of water up from the sea to cool the surrounding area.

"Get that off the ship as fast as possible. I don't want to be weighed down. And dump everything that isn't needed." Azula shouted. Satisfied that the work was going as fast as possible she headed to the front. Flaming coal projectiles of Fire Nation catapults rained down upon them, while waves crashed around the boat. "What's our status?"

"Princess." The lookout saluted. "Some of Zhao's ships are in front of us, but it's only the faster ones, the majority are-"

"Behind us, I can see that. What I want to know is how many?"

"I counted three straight ahead, but one of them is the Rising Sun."

"I see, continue to watch. I shall inform the Captain."

Azula walked briskly along the deck. Running would have been faster, but running would have implied panic, Azula did not panic. One of the lessons Azula learned from an early age was that if the leaders panicked, or looked panicked, the men would surly follow.

"Captain, press on ahead. Our best chance of getting through is to go straight forward."

"Yes Princess. What sort of opposition should we be expecting?"

"The Rising Sun and two cruisers." Azula held up her hand, "Before you say anything I know the risks of engaging them head on. But trying to avoid them would only give the rest of Zhao's fleet more time to catch up, and we would probably be intercepted anyways.."

"…Yes, Princess."

OoOoOoOo

Houjin pointed to one of the gears near the top of the room. "And if this gear right here starts squeaking, that's when you know you've really got trouble. Most gears will work okay if you give 'em a good kick or two, but if this one goes tell me immediately. Then pull this lever here the divert steam around the engine."

Sokka nodded. "Squeaky gear bad, got it."

"Don't worry, shouldn't go, but if it does it could blow up the whole ship." Sokka grimaced at his words. "Hopefully nothing will go wrong, but if we get a bad hit I'm going to need your help, and no matter what you and me are probably going to be busy the next few days. Unless we get a really bad on the boilers, then I don't think we'll be worrying about anything!"

All of a sudden, steam began leaking out of one of the pipes., Sokka quickly grabbed a wrench and began twisting one of the valves. As he did so the leak began to get smaller and smaller. Once the steam stopped Sokka gave a sigh of relief and backed off.

Houjin laughed "Good job kid, didn't even tell you which valve was the cut off for the pipe. Now help me take it apart."

"Take it apart!?"

Houjin gave Sokka a disparaging look. "Weren't you paying attention? We don't have any supplies to repair it with. This pipe is one of the few redundant ones; an extra safely precaution, nice, but not vital. Our job is to keep the engine running at all costs, and with all the fighting up there, this isn't going to be the only pipe that breaks, and when the others do I want to have the parts to fix them."

OoOoOoOo

Azula headed back to the front of the ship. "Princess, we're still heading towards the-"

"I know."

"What!?" exclaimed the lookout. "Why would we head-"

He was cut off when Azula rounded upon him, grabbing the front of his uniform with one hand and forming a flame in the palm off the other. "Do not question your superior's orders when we are under fire. Now hand me the telescope and go do something useful."

The lookout handed the telescope off in terror, and made a hasty retreat.

Adjusting the telescope, Azula focused on the rapidly growing Rising Sun, specifically it's front bow. If she knew Zhao (and she did) the idiotic glory hog would be right on the front of the ship. "ALL FIREBENDERS ON DECK NOW!"

OoOoOoOo

Zhao stood on the front of the ship, grinning in triumph. The Air Nomad's reports that Azula had escaped the poles were accurate, and now she was trapped like a cornered guinea-rat. Between his main fleet and the ships ahead they had nowhere to run. All he had to do now was figure out which way they were going and tighten the noose.

Looking through his telescope Zhao was able to make out the finer details of the ship. With a start he realized that they were coming straight towards him. Zhao laughed. "Men, prepare the catapults. Today is my lucky day."

OoOoOoOo

Azula's ship had entered the range of both the Rising Sun and the two cruisers' catapults. The projectile fire was even more intense than the run-in with Zhao's slower ships, and it was only getting worse. One of the rocks managed to make a hit, rolling along the deck like an oversized armadillo-lion until it crashed through the railing and over the side. Azula narrowly dodged it as she made her way back to the wheel.

"Captain, how good of a pilot are you?"

"It is no coincidence that's I'm one of the few captains that regularly takes the wheel, rather than leaving it to a helmsman," he replied.

"Good, when we pass the Rising Sun I want you to steer as close to it as possible."

"I will try, Princess, but the rough sea makes it difficult to steer without some lurching from side to side. I will have to leave some room or we would run the risk of crashing."

OoOoOoOo

"WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOU IDIOTS?" Zhao screamed. "WE HAVE OVER 100 CATAPULTS ON THESE THREE SHIPS AND WE'VE BARELY HIT THEM!"

"Sir!" one of the operators saluted. "With both us and them rapidly closing in on each other it's very hard to adjust for the shifts in distance. We are facing them directly and our catapults in the back can't get an accurate visual sighting and the target is-"

Zhao grabbed the hapless operator. "I DON'T WANT EXCUSES I WANT RESULTS! FIRE, FIRE!"

OoOoOoO

The barrage got even more intense as the distance closed; flaming coal fell all around the ship.

Gripping her telescope Azula saw Zhao leaning over the railing. At this distance she could even make out obvious frustration as he yelled at hapless operators. That was good, Zhao was a stupid firebender. He let his anger control him, rather than controlling his anger.

"On my mark, join your flames to mine. Let Zhao know the wrath of the Fire Nation to traitors. Remember the Imperial City. Remember your homes and families. Let Zhao know the Fire Nation will rise from the ashes! Let him know a traitor's fate!" A cheer rose among the firebenders as Azula turned around and fell into a firebending stance.

Concentrating on her breath, she blocked out the sounds of rocks falling around and focused on the memory of the burning capital, and on the loss of her family and friends.

Just at the very tip of the ships began passing each other Azula jumped forward and unleashed her rage in a steady stream of blue fire at Zhao. Each of the other firebenders followed suit, joining their yellow and red to her blue. The result was spectacular;, an expanding wall of fire raced towards the front of Zhao's ship, engulfing it.

Azula heard screams from the front of the Rising Sun, and could swear she could make out Zhao, though that may have just been wistful thinking on her part. Dropping out of her firebending stance she gripped the telescope. There was no sign of Zhao. It was too much to hope that Zhao had been killed, he was far too powerful a firebender for that. He had probably been blown back by the force of the fire, preferably painfully.

As the ship passed by the Rising Sun the wisdom of Azula's plan became clear. Zhao's ship was much larger, and this close the catapults couldn't properly target. The two cruisers couldn't fire properly either. One was on the other side of the Rising Sun and the other had to be very careful or risk overshooting and hitting the Rising Sun.

Zhao's attempts at boarding were even less effective than the last time. With the ships moving alongside one another boarders had to try to drop onto a moving vessel, only about half of them even made it onto the ship. Azula did have to give credit where it was due, Zhao was scary enough that the boarders would rather risk drowning that facing him. A cheer rose among Azula's men. They might actually escape.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING? TURN THOSE CATAPULTS AROUND AND FIRE!" Zhao shouted, his still blistering arms hanging from his sides. Unfortunately for him, Fire Nation catapults, while wonderfully engineered and designed to face any direction, were still giant pieces of iron. No matter how fast one works, redirecting something like that is not instantaneous.

Striding angrily along the deck, Zhao kicked in the door to the helm. "WHY ISN'T THIS SHIP TURNING AROUND?!"

"Sir!. I'm turning as fast as I can, but this is the biggest ship in the fleet. It's hard to turn and we have to avoid the cruisers."

"DO YOU THINK I CARE?!" Ignoring the pain in his arms Zhao smacked the man out of way and forced the wheel as far left as he could. With an almighty jerk the ship began to move portside.

OoOoOoOo

Azula rushed to the back of the ship, wanting to personally keep an eye on the pursuers. The two cruisers began to turn almost immediately, but she would still have a good head start on them by the time they came around. Even with the slightly damaged propeller, her ship was still faster than them. At least if the engineer had been correct. Given his use of the idiot as a helper, she wasn't entirely sure she could trust him.

"What in the-" Azula exclaimed at the Rising Sun began a much more rapid turn. The sharpness of the turn nearly tipped the ship, and Azula could swear she saw at least one person fall overboard. A few seconds later Azula began to chuckle. "That idiot." The rapid shift of the Rising Sun had caused it to come on a collision course with the cruiser to its left.

The sound of metal on metal was terrible; the cruiser had turned far enough that it managed to avoid a direct hit, but the sides of the ships groaned as they streaked by each other. Eventually the smaller cruiser managed to pull away, looking much worse for the wear. Meanwhile, the semi-impact had managed to reduce the Rising Sun's speed and kept it further behind.

It was a precious few minutes before the catapults resumed firing. As the flaming rocks streaked towards them Azula gave a grin of delight. Most were already falling short. Only a few lucky shots from the Rising Sun and the volley from the right cruiser were even getting close. They would soon be able to out distance them.

OoOoOoOo

Zhao strode out of the helm and towards the very bow of the ship, yelling at the various crewmembers to work faster as he passed them by. When Zhao finally got to the bow he stood there, looking towards the ship ahead of him with absolute fury.

"Sir, you need to get treated for those burns, please come down below and I can have them-"

"I DON'T NEED TREATMENT!" Zhao shouted. Taking a deep breath he continued in a much calmer tone, "What I need is to capture the Princess."

Zhao continued to stare out at the ship. He began to realize that it was slowly but surely getting smaller. It was going to get away. She was going to get away again! "NO! I WILL NOT BE HUMILIATED AGAIN!"

Striding back to the middle of the ship, he calmly approached the head artilleryman. "Prepare the Hammer of Agni."

"Sir, you can't! Our orders were to capture them alive-"

"I DON'T CARE! SHE WILL NOT ESCAPE AGAIN!"

OoOoOoO

As it became clear that the danger was passing, celebrations began to break out throughout the ship. Wine or beer would have been opened… if not for a certain corrupt quartermaster's earlier dealings. The sailors were settling for general shouts of glee and declarations about Zhao's mother (Who was actually quite a nice woman and really didn't deserve any of the things said about her).

"We made it." Katara exclaimed to Azula. "When I saw that ship up close and all the fire I didn't think we had a chance."

Azula smiled. "Any situation is perfectly survivable if you know how, and I-"

SPLASH!

Katara turned as a massive wave rose up from the impact. Luckily, it was far enough away to avoid damaging the boat, but whatever it had been was absolutely huge. "WHAT WAS THAT?!"

"The Hammer of Agni…" Azula managed the shock evident in her voice. Recovering her wits Azula yelled out, "What is that idiot doing!?"

"The Hammer of Agni?"

Azula turned to Katara, and, realizing there wasn't much else she could do at the moment, decided to explain. "The southern fleet was supposed to be a distraction for the Southern Temple and the Avatar to keep them focused away from the Capital. The metal vessels are nearly impossible to sink with airbending and the catapults can hit airborne targets. The Hammer of Agni was the crowning achievement, large enough to fire boulders that could hit the Southern Air Temple itself."

SPLASH!

A second miss, though this time much closer. The ship was actually rocked by the massive waves.

Azula tracked the incoming projectile. There wasn't anything else she could do . Watching the boulder grow bigger and bigger she started to realize that this one would not be a miss. "INCOMING!"

OoOoOoOo

People say that just before you die your life flashes before your eyes. That didn't happen for Sokka. He didn't have any flashbacks, or memories, or revelations. Instead, time seemed to slow down. He saw the fireball crash through the deck, and for a few seconds it was like he could see everything around him. Houjin's panicked surprise, the screaming boiler men as it crushed them, and finally the fire ball moving both agonizingly slow and blindingly fast at the same time. It hit one of the boilers, and for a second everything seemed to stop. Then time returned as the explosion went off, and everything went white.

OoOoOoOo

"AHACK, AHA." Azula altered between coughing and desperately trying to take a breath as she broke through the surface. Fighting against both the weight of her clothes and the choppy sea to stay above water, she tried to look around. The area around rose and fell with the waves as she saw all the bodies and rapidly sinking parts of the ship; some still falling from the sky. Most of the crew were obviously dead. Hopefully all the blood wouldn't attract tiger-sharks. Looking around, Azula could barely make out a bit of land, it was a long way off, but if she… Azula felt her strength slipping, it was too far. She wasn't going to make it. Azula cursed in her head, it couldn't end like this!

OoOoOoOo

Zhao grinned with delight as the third shot finally landed. A second later his common sense returned and he realized what he had just done. His orders had been to capture, not kill, and he doubted his patron would be forgiving. With a growing horror looked at the wreckage, the forth shot still streaking towards it.

OoOoOoOo

Katara awoke underwater. She could barely make out the light above. Desperately, she tried to waterbend herself up, but couldn't even begin to find the strength. She tried to swim, but still found herself weighed down by her clothing. Her lungs burned, and she found herself slipping into the darkness…

Another common saying about death is that as one nears it one can find great strength and wisdom, whether from desperation or a connection to the spirit world. Regardless of the cause Katara managed to find it somewhere inside of herself. Her exhaustion was replaced with a calm strength, and she could feel the water and understood art of waterbending with a clarity she had never had before.

Reaching with a renewed vigor and understanding Katara once again bent the water, which eagerly responded to her call. She shot herself up, closer and closer to the light. Finally reaching the surface Katara took a grateful breath of air.

She then gathered the water around her, forming a wave. It was not the largest one she had ever formed-- that had been during the storm, but it was still the most impressive. In those waves she gathered everyone and everything of the ship's she could see and sped towards the shore, away from the incoming projectile. Using all her strength Katara managed to hold the wave together until it crashed on the shore, passing out from exhaustion a second later.

OoOoOoOo

Had either Zhao or his men been more observant they might have noticed a wave forming out of the ocean just before, rather than just after, the fourth and final shot landed. If they had they would have been very interested in the figure on top of the wave, and the direction it was going. They might have ended the war right there. As it was Zhao had other things on his mind, and most of his men were too far away or too focused on avoiding an angry Admiral to bother tracking the wreck. Not to mention at that distance only a telescope would have been able to see it.

OoOoOoOo

Azula was on her hands and knees, half gagging, half choking. She began to cough the water out of her lungs. she breathed in, desperately taking gasps of air as the world came into view again. Azula slowly got up, still aching from being thrown onto the beach. Right next to her was Katara Various bodies and pieces of wreckage were strewn around the beach. "Wake up!" said Azula, shaking Katara.

"Uhhhh." Katara clutched her head as she rose. "What happened?" she asked, looking around.

"The ship blew up. Then a giant wave, which I assumed was yours, came by and threw us onto shore."

Unfortunately Katara was not listening. Having spotted an unmoving Sokka she had already gone over to him and was hovering over her brother and he lay by one of the metal beams. Taking some time to look around, Azula saw that aside from the wreckage, the beach was fairly clear. There wasn't much life, no human inhabitants, and it was finally free of the ever-present snow and ice she'd been enduring since the Southern Pole. Looking back to Katara Azula saw that she was waving her hand over him, bending the water out of his throat.

One of Azula's most useful talents was the ability to file things rationally. Even in times of crisis, such as now, some small part in the back of her mind was able to take note of the control Katara was exercising. Control she never would have guessed Katara had.

"AHACK." Sokka began coughing up the water in his lungs.

"Sokka! You're all right!"

Sokka looked up. "You have a funny definition of all right Katara, he choked out as she hugged him.

Katara ignored him as she wrench away and began to run over to one of the sailors, attempting to do the same thing.

"Don't bother." Azula intoned. "His neck was snapped."

Katara took a closer look at the neck and backed away as she realized Azula was right.

Azula formed a small fire in her hands, and begun to burn the body.

"What are you doing?" Both siblings yelled at once.

"What does it look like!? I'm giving him a proper cremation, or at least the best one I can get on the Agni forsaken beach!"

"That's not how you-" Sokka began.

"It may not be how _you _do it. But in the Fire Nation we burn our dead, like civilized people. There should be a pyre, but I don't have the energy or supplies, and I will not leave them out for the scavengers. They deserve better than that. Now make yourselves useful and see if there are any other survivors!"

Katara and Sokka headed along the beach, knowing better than to argue with her right now.

When both the sibling returned, their shoulders were hunched, their eyes downcast. Katara was simply depressed from all the bodies. Sokka had a more personal reason. He had recognized Houjin's body, though it hadn't been easy. Houjin had been closer to the blast than him, and the flying metal had ripped through his body, leaving it in bloody pieces. The sight had almost made him consider giving up meat.

The sibling sat down, watching Azula burn the bodies one by one. The sun began to set over the horizon just as Azula finished with the last body; the Captain's. She then sat down on the beach, several yards away from the siblings, and all three settled in for a long and cold night.

OoOoOoOo

Katara wondered where it all went wrong, when her dream of going to the North Pole had turned into a nightmare. It had started so well. The ship had been amazing and she had actually been able to practice her waterbending. She had seen islands and oceans she'd never expected to see in her entire life. Then the storm had come, and the Air Nomad's had attacked, even if they wouldn't kill her, Gran-Gran had warned her about what happened to captured benders. The idea of being completely separated from her element or imprisoned was horrible to contemplate. Though she had learned to control some of her waterbending during the storm, it had been the first time it had been more than a fun adventure, that she had really felt in danger.

Now everyone was dead, and she and Sokka had barely survived. She could barely remember forming the wave. It had almost seemed like a dream. Katara shuddered, it seemed like every new waterbending lesson had a price, in danger or loss. If the price of mastery was blood, Katara wasn't sure she wanted to learn waterbending anymore.

OoOoOoOo

Sokka thought about Houjin. It had only been about a week, less if you didn't count the time he spent on Kyoshi Island, so why was he so affected? In that week he had learned so much: pressure, heat transfer, all the little rules and regulations to make the universe work. Then this had happened, and out of nowhere he had been killed. If the catapult had been somewhat off it wouldn't have hit the ship at all, if it had been even slightly off it wouldn't have hit the engine and maybe they could have made it to shore.

Even in the short time they had met, Houjin had been like a second father to him. Sokka turned and failed to get to sleep.

OoOoOoOo

Azula fumed. Silently she cursed everyone and everything she could think of. She cursed Zhao, for betraying the Fire Nation, Lu Ten, for being such a weak Fire Lord and letting the capital fall, and Sokka, for getting himself captured which had probably let the Air Nomads know of their position. She cursed the idiot who came up with the Rising Sun and the Hammer of Agni. She even briefly cursed Mai and Ty Lee, for getting themselves captured. If they had just had a little faith she knew they could have beaten the attackers, and then she would have had competent help on Kyoshi Island.

Most of all she cursed two people. The first was the Avatar, for starting this war. If they had just been able to hold out a bit longer her people could have used the comet to drive off the invaders, just as her great grandfather used it to stop the initial attack and destroy the Western Air Temple.

The second was herself. If she hadn't been so weak she could have done something. She shouldn't have gambled on a straight shot past Zhao. Even if avoiding him risked being caught the ships behind them, it would have been the smarter choice. Instead, like an idiot, she had assumed Zhao still wanted to capture her alive. Even then she could have salvaged the situation. It she had thought about it she could have ordered the captain to turn and make their course less predictable. She should have realized that the crew manning the Hammer of Agni would be better trained and more accurate, but like a fool she did nothing, thinking it wouldn't hit.

OoOoOoOo

The next day all three of them woke up, looking miserable. Lying on sand, a lack of sleep and no hygiene were not good for one's appearance. Azula's hair and bloodshot eyes made her resemble an angry Boar-q-pine, while Katara and Sokka didn't look much better.

Heading down to the water Azula began to shift through the wreckage, picking out coins or other objects of value. After a few moments she gave an angry look and turned around to face the siblings., "What are you two doing? Help me find look around,." she snapped angrily.

"Azula," Katara began, "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Of course I'm not alright! I just lost my nation, my ship and my crew and probably any hope of ever getting them back! I can't even afford to make a decent pyre for my crew I have scavenge what I can!" Azula took a deep breath, and continued in a state of barely contained rage. "I don't know about you, but I still plan to do everything I can to destroy the Air Empire... I'm personal friends with the Northern Water Tribe's Princess. Hopefully I can convince them to do something… If not I can at least be safe while I plan my next move. You can stay here and moan, but I'm going to go!"

Silently Sokka and Katara stood up and began to look through the wreckage.

OoOoOoOo

Zhao sat angrily in his cabin, his arms had been bandaged, but they still ached and the physician had told him that the bandages would need to be regularly changed-- an unpleasant process, to stay the least. Zhao brooded, explaining the destruction of the Princess's ship and her loss would not be easy, but while Zhao was many things; ambitious, aggressive and easily angered, he was not a coward.

Thump

Zhao stood up. Something heavy had landed on the deck. A second later the door to his cabin opened. "WHAT IS IT?" he snapped.

"Please, Admiral Zhao, there is no need for hostility," replied the man serenely.

The Air Nomad stepped in the room. He was somewhat young for a monk, in his late 20's or early 30's at the most. He was clean-shaven, avoiding the more typical mustaches or long beards that most Air Nomads favored, and was of average height and build. "We are both on the same side, after all. Have you located Princess Azula?"

Zhao tightened his fist angrily. "You have no authority over me. I answer to the Fire Lord only."

"Hmmmm." The sound the monk made was odd, more like a piece of music than anything else. It was a few seconds before Zhao realized the sound was one of amusement. "The new Fire Lord is allied with us. After all we were the ones put him in position after the fall of the capital."

"You are not one of leaders-"

"Hmmm." The monk gave off the same musical laugh. "I'm sorry. I haven't properly introduced myself. I am Jamyang. With the unfortunate death of Tsering I was appointed to the head council of the Southern Air Temple." Jamyang pulled out a small piece of paper and handed it to Zhao.

Zhao read the paper, which confirmed what he had said. He grit his teeth in anger, but answered, "We encountered her ship yesterday. It was destroyed in the chase. We spent all day checking the scattered wreckage and have found no survivors."

"Hmmm." Rather than be angry, or even concerned, the monk was actually LAUGHING!

Zhao slammed his fist on the table, "WHAT IS SO FUNNY?"

"Please calm down, Admiral Zhao. I assume the ship was destroyed a few hours before sunset?"

"Yes, but what-"

"Then be at ease, Admiral Zhao. I cannot be sure about Princess Azula, but I assure you the ship had survivors."

"What? How can you-"

"I have my ways." Zhao was really getting annoyed at Jamyang interrupting him. "The council has decided to reprioritize the capture. I have been assigned to work with you. I will need lodgings for myself and the monks I have brought with me. Our bison are perfectly happy to sleep on deck."

Zhao clenched his fists and gritted his teeth again, but avoided doing anything overly aggressive.

Jamyang turned to leave, but stopped himself as he was about to exit the door. "Admiral Zhao, are you alright?"

"What?"

"Your arms, those injuries look rather nasty, if not treated properly they could be permanent. If you like I can request that a waterbender come from the South to heal you. After all, allies should work together and help each other."

OoOoOoOo

The search yielded better results than Azula had hoped for. The food had all been waterlogged, but they had found a large amount of earth kingdom coinage. It was enough for food and supplies, though not enough for silence or bribes. Still, they had one important advantage. Zhao thought they were dead.

OoOoOo

**Afterword:** Thanks to Avocadolove for betaing, and everyone who reviewed.


	6. The Beach

**Preview:**A new character joins the Gang, Katara may love him, but Azula and Sokka aren't so hot on the issue.

**Avatar: The Last Firebender**

**Book 1 Chapter 6**

**The Beach**

oOoOoOoO

Sokka peaked over the rock, looking at rows of earth kingdom clothes set out to dry. "Alright we need to-"

Azula cut him off. "We need to be cautious. I'll go around and make sure no one is here. Once we are sure no one is watching we can-"

"I call the silk dress!" Katara shouted, rushing forward.

Sokka and Azula's mouths dropped open as they watched Katara rush forward. They immediately ran after her.

"What do you think you're doing?" Azula hissed as Katara grabbed the dress off the clothes line.

"You could have been seen." Sokka added.

"Calm down, you're both being paranoid. Nobody saw me."

"Someone could have been around, or in the house." Sokka pointed to the small hut ", t was pure luck that nobody was around."

"Paranoia is the _irrational_ fear someone is out to get you. If the Air Nomads or Zhao knew we were alive…" Azula hissed.

Katara held up her hands. "Okay, okay I'm sorry, but no harm right? Both of you need to calm down." It was at this point that both Sokka and Azula realized that they had been agreeing with each other for the last few moments. They stared at each other for a few seconds before giving mutual shudders of disgust.

OoOoOoO

It was a noon before they finally saw the outskirts of the city. It was by unanimous decision of the stomachs that the first place to head towards would be the inn. "Try not to draw attention to yourselves," Azula said, "Even if Zhao thinks we are dead we want to keep a low profile. If people start talking he could realize I survived."

"So we shouldn't say, try to roast our companions with an obvious display of firebending?"Sokka inquired.

"Not unless they are being a loudmouth idiot who would give us away."

"Look there's the inn," Katara announced a little louder than normal.

The three of them went inside. The inn was serving "earthen stew". A concoction of boiled water and whatever could be caught, trapped, dug up, or simply pried of the wheel of traveling wagons. (Un)fortunately for our hero's, none of them were native Earth Kingdom citizens, so they didn't know this and they were far too hungry to think about asking.

Azula hunched over the table, lowering her voice. "We'll need to get camping supplies and extra clothing."

"What about food?" Sokka asked.

Azula rolled her eyes. "We have to carry anything we bring, so we only want enough to get to the next town. We will need to check on the price of ostrich-horses. If they are not too expensive we could purchase some, but I do not want to spend too much so early in the trip, and stealing is a last resort. People have a much longer memory for thieves than customers. "

"I think we should do the purchases," said Sokka.

"What? Why in the world would I let you do the purchases?"

"Because if Zhao comes looking he's going to look for Fire Nation survivors or bodies, not Water Tribe. Plus a lot of Water Tribesmen fled the fighting in the South. It would be unusual to see one of us, but not out of the question. This city looks like a fairly major port, so the people here will just think we're refugees and won't think to say anything if questioned."

Azula frowned, but conceded the point with a curt "fine."

OoOoOoO

Lurking was not Azula's strong suit. Her entire life, her nation's entire philosophy, was all about drawing attention to oneself, shining like a star. The idea of trying to avoid attention was not an easy one to grasp. The best Azula could do was adopt the mannerisms used when she was younger during formal dinners and diplomatic meetings, where silence was required and etiquette was everything. It wasn't perfect -- she was overly stiff and awkward -- but between the alleyway she had settled in and the wide brimmed straw hat that hid most of her face she was mostly unnoticed.

Sokka and Katara were currently in one of the shops purchasing sleeping bags, rope and a tarp. They had decided against full tents, as those would be too heavy.

Trying to focus her attention on other things, Azula began to listen to the sounds around her. She had learned long ago that is was amazing what sort of things you could pick up, if you were willing to listen.

"Waterbender."

Azula's ears perked up as she was able to make out the word. Peeking her head outside the alleyway she nearly had a heart attack as she saw two Air Nomads talking to one of the fruit sellers. Quickly ducking down, she pressed her ear to the wall and carefully listened to the conversation.

"Sorry I'd love to help you, but if you can't give any description... Well a lot of people pass by the town, a lot of Water Tribesmen too," the seller answered.

"Very well, thank you for your time. Please remember that this waterbender is very dangerous and extremely powerful. If you see them do not attempt to confront them. For your own safety please report it to one of the guards or come find us immediately."

Azula silently cursed as the Air Nomads went to the next stand. A second later Katara and Sokka emerged from the shop, carrying three sleeping bags and the tarp. Azula rushed out and grabbed Katara's hand, dragging her into the alleyway.

"What-mmmm mmmm," said Katara as Azula clamped her hand over Katara's mouth.

"Shhhhh," Azula hissed, carefully looking out of the alleyway. Luckily the two Air Nomads had been talking with a vendor on the other side of the street and hadn't noticed the little display.

"What's going on?" Sokka asked, rushing behind them.

"What's going on?" Azula hissed. "What's going on is two Air Nomads are out there looking for a 'dangerous and extremely powerful' waterbender."

"Me?" asked Katara, pointing to herself.

Azula rolled her eyes "No the moon. Of course you… they must have seen the wave you created… We're in a bit of luck. Apparently Zhao didn't get a close enough glimpse to get any distinguishing features."

"So no problem right?" asked Sokka. "If Katara doesn't waterbend-"

"I'm not sure. There were rumors in the Capital that the Air Nomads have ways of telling benders apart. It was just rumors, but I would rather play it safe for now. We will be camping out of the town tonight. Tomorrow I and Sokka can go back in."

"Why not just me? You're a bender and…" The look of pure disgust Azula gave him was enough to silence him.

OoOoOoO

The trip out had been mercifully clear. They had seen a couple more Air Nomads walking around the city, questioning people, but had avoided any confrontations. They had also managed to get a crate of fish from one of the warehouses for dinner. Azula had been annoyed that they couldn't find anything smaller, but with the Air Nomads about Azula wasn't willing to risk heading to a normal stand.

It had been a bit difficult to find a proper spot to camp. They needed to be close enough to the beach to be able to navigate back to the city without being lost, but at the same time couldn't be spotted from the shore. Azula had eventually found a spot shielded by a line of trees on a hill, providing perfect cover while being close enough to the beach to be able to avoid getting lost. Settling in for the night, the three tried to sleep.

OoOoOo

Katara gave a yawn as she woke up. Looking around she saw it was still the middle of the night and both Azula and Sokka were asleep. She tried lying down and getting back to sleep, but was distracted by a high pitched mewing just on the edge of hearing. Rising from her sleeping bag, she began to look for the source of the sound. It was somewhere on the beach. Katara climbed over the hill and peaked over the edge.

"Awwwww, poor thing."

OoOoOoOo

Azula rose with the morning sun. The siblings were still asleep. "Wake up ." Sokka stirred, mumbled something, and went back to sleep. "I said WAKE UP!"

"I'm up, I'm up. You don't have to yell in my ear."

"I do if you're going to be so lazy."

"You didn't yell in Katara's ear."

"That's because she's…" Azula looked over. There was still no movement from Katara's sleeping bag. Walking over to it Azula realized that was because no one was in it. "Gone…"

"What? Where'd she go?" Sokka scrambled out of his sleeping bag.

"I how would I know either of those? Given we're still here she probably left on her own."

Sokka knelt down by Katara's sleeping bag. "She went that way." He pointed to the beach.

"What was she doing? And how do you know anyway?"

"I learned to track with my father. There isn't any snow here, but you can make out some faint footprints in the dirt."

Azula followed Sokka over the hill. As the ground became sandy it got easier and easier to follow the tracks. Their eyes followed the trail right up to where Katara was sleeping…

Azula and Sokka's jaws hung open. They had been surprised when Katara had rushed out to grab the clothes but this… this was beyond surprise. This had to be some sign of clinical insanity on Katara's part, some inherent death wish.

"KATARA!"

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"

Katara rubbed her eyes as she looked around "Oh, hey guys, sorry about wandering off during the night."

Azula and Sokka's jaws made a valiant effort to detach from the rest of them, not only was Katara so casual about the whole thing, but now that they got a better look they saw that she hadn't just been sleeping near it. She had been using it as a _pillow_!

Sokka managed to recover his voice first "WHY ARE YOU SLEEPING NEXT TO KILLER WHALE-WOLF!!!?"

OoOoOoOo

Creatures of the World, (a zoologists hand book) pg 630

The Killer Whale-Wolf is widely regarded as one of the deadliest predators in the entire ocean. While lacking the raw size of the Gorilla-Whale, or shear viciousness of the Tiger-Shark, the Killer Whale-Wolf is none the less a deadly predator. A full grown Whale-Wolf will typically be from 16-26 ft long and typically weights between 4 and eight tons. It is surrounded by a sleek black and white skin that allows it to move through the water with very little resistance.

What makes the Whale-Wolf especially unique is the ease of transition from land to sea. It posses four extremely powerful legs, able to support its body on land and allow it to run over 20 miles per hour in short burst. When in water the legs are able to be use as flippers, which combined with its powerful tail make it one of the fastest swimmers on the planet. Unlike most other species of Whales, the Whale-Wolf posses very little blubber, almost its entire mass is pure bone and muscle. This explains its amazing speeds on land, though this is not without cost, as the Killer Whale-Wolf has a voracious appetite.

In ancient times misguided scholars would often list the Killer Whale-Wolf alongside the Badger-Mole, Dragon, and Sky-Bison as the fourth bending animal. Modern times have proved this belief untrue, as there has never been a verified incident of a Whale-Wolf waterbending. It is still debated whether this means that the now extinct Unagi was the fourth animal, or if there never was one. Nevertheless the Whale-Wolf does share a surprising amount of characteristics with the bending animals, displaying complex social behavior, intelligence and communication rarely seen outside the bending capable animals.

Killer Whale-Wolves typically travel in pod-packs of about four to ten, though there are occasional reports of "lone wolves" mostly old or injured Whale-Wolves who are unable to properly contribute. Whale-Wolves have poor sight, but make up through it by use of echolocation underwater, and a combination of extremely good smell and hearing on land. Despite the Whale-Wolves' ability to function on land and water their skin has a tendency to dry out, meaning they mostly keep to the oceans. Occasionally older Whale-Wolves will take to the larger rivers, but this is generally unusual.

Given the Killer Whale-Wolf's voracious appetite and extreme intelligence it is no surprise they have often been in competition with humans for food and resources. Even in modern times the Whale-Wolves are threatened by hunting, destruction of native prey habitats on land, and overfishing in the ocean.

Most of the mythology surrounding the Killer Whale-Wolf has been formed by the competition between humans and Whale-Wolf . They are often viewed as symbols of either strength or evil in tradition mythology, and parts of the animal are often used in tradition medicines for strength or cunning. Recent science has shed a more positive light on them, and some are even famous in their own right. Especially notable is the Whale-Wolf Sukara who was-

OoOoOoOo

"It was injured and…"

"YOU FELT SORRY FOR IT!?"

"IT'S JUST A BABY!" shouted Katara.

"IT COULD STILL BITE YOUR HEAD OFF!" Sokka shouted back, Azula was still trying to form words.

It was at that moment that the Killer Whale-Wolf woke up. It quickly began making a rather sad mewing sound. "QUICK GET AWAY BEFORE IT…. Bites… your head off?" Sokka's words fell as the animal began nuzzling Katara. As it turned towards her the rather nasty gash on its front left side became noticeable.

Azula finally found her words. "Come on Sokka, we need to get to town."

Sokka turned towards Azula. "But…"

Azula sighed. "I… agree with you" Azula's absolute distaste at the idea clear in her voice. "That animal is dangerous and not to be trusted, but right now it is not a threat."

"But what if it eats her?" Given the 'baby' had a mouth big enough to fit a human arm inside and teeth to match, Sokka's concern wasn't entirely unwarranted.

"Look at the gash on its side, its front leg is barely able to move. Katara could escape it easily."

"Sure, if she was keeping her distance, I wouldn't worry, but what if it decides to attack right now?" Katara was currently petting it, just by turning its head it could easily take a bite out of her arm.

Azula sighed, "Fine. I'll just get the supplies myself."

Sokka nodded as Azula walked away, watching his sister while keeping a safe distance from the man-eating monstrosity. A few moments later he remembered that one of the things they had needed to buy were extra clothes, and horrible visions of what had happened the last time a girl had picked out his cloths swarmed in his head. "Azulaaaaa, waiiiiit!"

OoOoOoOo

Sokka peaked over the crates. After confirming the coast was clear he leapt over them, hitting the ground before recovering and looking up again.

Azula sighed as she walked behind him. She wondered if it was some kind of racial insanity. One of her old teachers at the Royal Fire Academy for Girls had droned on about the difference between the various peoples of the world. The Fire Nation was Honorable and strong, the Air Nomads were tricky and cunning, the Earth Kingdom citizens were strong of body and weak of mind, and the Water Tribes were vicious warriors but extremely barbarous and unable to properly govern.

Azula had never paid him much attention at the time. Early on her interactions with her brother had made her prefer cunning to an idiotic over-reliance on honor, so the teacher's long spiels about the evil, tricky, lying Air Nomads hadn't had the intended effect. Later on, after joining her mother's visits to the Northern Water Tribe, she had personally seen the city and met the people. Anyone seeing them as barbarous was a fool. The idea of Yue as some sort of barbarian warrior-princess still amused her to this day.

Still, now she wasn't wondering if the fool (her old teacher, as opposed to Sokka, who was 'the idiot') hadn't been on to something. The Northern Water Tribe had no resemblance to his crazed ramblings, but the Southern… Barbarous wasn't the right word, after all it wasn't like Katara was doing anything violent. It was more like a racial predisposition to insanity. The kind that decides that a Killer Whale-Wolf is just another pet or that "be stealthy" meant jumping around, rolling on the ground and sliding along walls, rather than simply taking back alleys and not making a scene.

Azula looked out of the alleyway to make sure there were no Air Nomads about. They had seen several groups wandering the city, and questioning people. Sokka had eventually managed to locate a former Water Tribesman, who was able to point them in the direction of a fairly out of the way clothing shop. Azula turned back to see Sokka still sliding along the wall. Rolling her eyes she grabbed his shirt by the collar. "Come on dum-dum."

OoOoOoOo

"It's okay." Katara tried to calm the animal down as it continued to give high pitched cries of pain. Despite what Sokka and Azula thought, Katara was not insane. She knew how dangerous Whale-Wolves were. She couldn't just leave it there. Eight years of being a substitute mother didn't just disappear when she agreed to leave with Azula. She'd had to take care of almost all the kids in the tribe at one time or another.

Walking around to the other side, Katara inspected the gash. It began halfway up the front left leg, traveling all the way up its side towards its dorsal fin. It had partially healed but was beginning to look infected. Remembering her grandmother's lessons Katara began to bend the sea water towards the wound to clean it.

The Whale-Wolf gave another cry of pain. "Shhh. It's okay. I know it hurts right now, but I promise it will help." Katara said in a calming voice as she spread the water over the wound.

All of a sudden Katara gave a gasp of surprise and drew the water back. She had felt _something_ coming from the water. Concentrating, she slowly bent the water over the wound again, and as it touched the wound she was able to feel something pushing against it. Carefully, Katara allowed the energy to flow through the water, from one point of the wound to another. As it did, the water began to glow, and the Whale-Wolf gave a cry of relief.

OoOoOoOo

"Ashes," Azula whispered under her breath.

"What?" grunted Sokka, straining under the weight of the skinning knifes, salt, water jugs, clothes, pots, maps and whatever else Azula had though they might need.

"Look out to sea."

Sokka followed Azula finger to the metallic Fire Nation ships on the horizon. "Zhao's coming here. We need to get out of town. Now."

"Well then let's go. We got everything we could possibly need for the next six villages."

"Oh quite whining., I got you that bag with the leather shoulder straps to carry it all didn't I?"

"Just remind me again why we were avoiding taking extra food?" Azula and Sokka headed toward the stables, but before Sokka could walk in, Azula blocked his way. "What are you doing?"

"Stop, look, and think for once. The stable is fixing the ostrich-horses with saddles. That means somebody is about to rent or purchase them. A lot of them. The only person who would have both the money and not already have their own animals on hand is Zhao. Knowing him he probably purchased every one they had, and even if he did not I don't want to talk to someone I know is directly talking with Zhao. He probably knows Zhao is hunting for someone and would report us. We're both non-natives, buying ostrich-horses and carrying freshly purchased supplies and Earth kingdom clothing. "

"Right," said Sokka, as they turned and headed out of the city in a different direction.

OoOoOoOo

When they got back to the camp the sun was already setting. Katara wasn't waiting at the camp, so they headed down to the beach.

"Katara? What are you doing?" asked Sokka, looking at her glowing hands.

"I'm, well, healing it."

Azula's jaw hung open. She had figured out what was going as soon as she got a decent look, but was still trying to comprehend it. She wasn't sure what was more surprising; that Katara was healing _it_, or that Katara was _healing _it. On the one hand healing a Killer Whale-Wolf was such a violation of common sense it was absurd. On the other, the fact that Katara was healing it meant that Azula had badly misjudged Katara's abilities, which was equally absurd.

Meanwhile the siblings had resumed their bickering. "Why are you healing the dangerous monster?"

"It's not a monster!"

"Really? Cause I must have missed the inch high teeth and giant mouth."

Katara crossed her arms over her chest, and stood between her brother at the Whale-wolf. "It's not going to hurt me."

"_Now_ it's not, but what happens when it feels better, or hungry?" Without another word Sokka marched as close to the Whale-Wolf as he dared and grabbed Katara's hand, forcibly dragging her away. Katara gave a cry of indignation . The Whale-Wolf lifted its head and gave a soft, low pitched mourning noise.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Keeping you safe!" Sokka yelled back, dragging her to the camp.

"I don't need to be kept safe. Let me go!"

OoOoOoOo

Katara sulked under one of the trees as Sokka attempted to cook the fish over the fire without burning them. She had wanted to go back, but Azula and Sokka had once again found themselves in the unusual position of agreeing. They when they had ended up overruling her.

"Waaaww" a high pitched cry echoed through the trees and all three of them turned to see the Killer Whale-Wolf approaching though the trees. It was limping slowly because its leg was still injured, but was making steady progress towards the camp. Katara ran over to it and began petting it, as Sokka slapped his hand on his face is frustration.

OoOoOoOo

Sokka's cooking wasn't half bad, and the three of them had finished off all of the fish Sokka had initially cooked. Still hungry, Sokka opened the crate to get another one "….. What happened to the fish?!" He demanded.

"What are you ranting about now?" Azula asked.

"The fish, they were right here… Wait a minute." Sokka walked over to the Whale-Wolf who was lying by Katara side as she used some water she had brought from the river to heal it. Bending down, Sokka began to inspect the mouth. "HE ATE OUR FISH!"

"Sokka calm down-"

"Calm down!? He ate an ENTIRE CRATE OF FISH!"

"It wasn't an entire crate!"Shouted Katara.

Sokka rolled his eyes "I'm sorry an entire crate, minus six fish. That was at least a week's worth of food. That thing is a bottomless pit."

"It can't help how much is eats." Katara yelled back.

"Katara this has gone on too far. It's a _wild animal_, not only couldn't we afford to feed it, but who do you think it would eat if we ran out of food."

"It woul-"

Azula cut both of them off. "It doesn't matter anyway."

"What?" asked both siblings in unison.

"Given the ship I saw on the horizon, Zhao is already in town, and he has enough men to scout the forests around here. The good news is if I know Zhao's impatience he's been driving his men all day for the last few days, and will have to rest tomorrow, but we will need to move further North tomorrow. That creature can barely stand, much less walk."

"We can-"

Azula cut her off again "Katara, if we stay here we will be caught. Much as I _hate_ to admit it, Sokka's right. It's a wild animal. We can't trust it."

Katara frowned, but didn't argue. The Whale-Wolf, while it may have been unable to understand the words, was apparently able to get the general idea and gave a low pitched moan.

OoOoOoOo

A nocturnal rabideer nervously hopped through forest. As it approached the stream it carefully looked for predators hoping to catch it unawares as it drank from the water. Satisfied that there were no predators around it cautiously approached the water, looking for signs of lurking catgators. Had it been smarter it may have noticed the oddly large shape in the water, but as it was the rabideer only recognized that is was not a catgator, and paid it no more attention. The rabideer lowered its head to drink-

SPLASH! CRUNCH!

OoOoOoOo

There are many unpleasant way to be woken up, and humans have often debated which one is the worst. One famous author put forth a dog's cold nose as the worst. He has obviously never been woken up by the blood of several headless animals pooling around his face.

Under the circumstances Sokka's screaming and subsequent hysteria was really quite understandable.

"Huh? Wha?" Katara gave various expressions of confusion as she looked around, while Azula jumped up and prepared to repel the ambush. She was very disappointed when all she saw was a screaming Sokka, though the dead animals were an impressive touch.

"What is it?" Azula demanded.

"THERE ARE DEAD THINGS ALL AROUND ME."

"I can see that you idiot."

"Sokka, calm down-" Katara began.

"CALM DOWN!? There aren't a bunch of headless things surrounding your bed. You know I've heard about this, dead ostrich-horses head in your bed."

"But these are all missing their heads."

"AND THAT'S EVEN WORSE!"

The conversation was cut short a few moments later when the source of the dead animals became clear. The Killer Whale-Wolf walked out of the trees, dragging a headless Moose… something (without the head it was rather hard to tell) and laid it at Katara feet.

"See I knew it, it's threatening us! It part of some… animal Triad!"

Azula and Katara rolled their eyes in unison. "Look, it probably felt bad about eating all the fish so it wanted to bring something back." Katara explained.

"Because it could understand our conversation…"

"More likely than it's part of some 'animal Triad'"

Azula gave a sigh of exasperation "It probably has simply come to identify us as part of its pack, and is bringing food."

"See? It was doing it to be friendly. It needs a name, what do you think we should call him?" Katara asked.

"A bottomless pit with an appetite for meat? I think Sokka would be a wonderful name."

"No, no, no, no. First of all, we are not naming him. And secondly given that it's a vicious killer and remorseless predator, Azula would be a much more appropriate name."

"Oh really?"

Katara inserted herself between the impromptu staring contest "Look how about we just call him Sukara?"

"No that's a girl's name, and besides we're not keeping him anyway." Sokka retorted.

Azula looked at the Whale-Wolf "I don't think we have much of choice."

"What?"

"The wound is almost fully healed." Both sibling turned and saw that Azula was correct, only a relatively small opening at the joint and a long scar running across the front-left leg remained. "Even if we left it here it would only follow us. Better to just take it with us than have one Zhao's trackers find it and follow it."

"But-"

"Sokka, look at all the hunting it does. It's more than enough to not only feed itself, but some extra for you to cook." Katara said.

"Well I do like meat…"

"And once his leg heals Sukara can probably carry a lot of the stuff we have-"

"RIGHT!" Sokka put his arm around Sukara, who began to growl at him "Buddy this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

OoOoOoOo

Zhao growled in frustration "You had _my_ men searching two days through the area around the wreckage and we found nothing. What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Hmmmm. On the contrary, we have gotten two very valuable things."

"What?"

Jamyang held up a decorated tooth with pride. "This artifact is a wonderful example of Northern Water Tribe artwork. I've rarely seen such beauty."

"You had my men spend two days searching for a piece of ART!?" It was bad enough that the man had delayed his ships and sent the Air Nomads to the coastal cities in an attempt to steal all the glory, but the sheer audacity of this!

"Hmmmmm. No, not merely art, an _artifact_. Not many people know this, as it's been so long most depictions of him are gone, but the design is actually a very old one. The waterbender on this tooth is Avatar Kuruk. I'd like to think of it a sign."

Zhao grumbled "I prefer not to relay on signs and spirits."

"What a shame. They can be quite helpful if you know how.."

Zhao pointedly ignored the comment "What else did you find?"

"Why, nothing of course."

"I thought you said that there were two valuable things this search yielded!"

"Nothing is extremely valuable." Jamyang replied.

"I do not have time for your stupid Koans, Airbender!"

"Hmmmmmm. You misunderstand, Admiral Zhao. We have searched the entire wreckage, and scanned the nearby beaches, yet only found three corpses. Don't you find that odd?"

"No. They probably sank in the water."

"But only the guards on that ship were firebenders, and only they wore the heavy metallic armor of your people. At least if your reports were correct. What about the sailors?"

Zhao gave a dismissive wave of his hand. "Then they were probably eaten."

"So fast? It had only been a few days."

"You've never seen a tiger-shark or piranha-wasp eat. Have you?"

Jamyang gave another laugh "Hmmmmm. No, Admiral Zhao, I have not had that pleasure. But both of those animals are predators, hunting and killing prey. Most of the sailors would have already been dead, fit only for scavengers, who are much slower eaters, not needing to enjoy fresh meat."

"So what happened then, are you saying most of them are alive?"

Jamyang shook his head "No, no Admiral Zhao. Some may have survived, but most would have died in the explosion. Yet their corpses are gone, so what happened to them?"

"Why should I KNOW-" Zhao began to yell.

"They were burned, Admiral Zhao."

"Burned?"

"Hmmmm. Yes Admiral Zhao, that is the manner in which your people dispose of the dead, is it not?"

"So they burned them, all that means is that a firebender survived. That means nothing. All the guards on that ship were firebenders."

"Who wore armor."

"Which would sink in the ocean…. Yes… Azula would have been the only one to wear clothes light enough not to instantly drown." Zhao grinned. "Then the Princess is alive!"

OoOoOo

**Afterword**: Hey I said a new character, I didn't say they had a speaking roll. I realized the story had a lack of animal companions, and wanted one. Appa and Momo were out, being Air Nomad based, and I figure any animal traveling with Azula would need more... teeth. I considered a dragon, but one of my big rules was "no flying" for the good guys (as it heightens the tension, no flying off into the sunset for them).

Also sorry bout Katara healing appearing so early, I would have liked it a little later, but I literally have the first 40 episodes overall plots outlined, and didn't see any good place to put it. (I can't see Azula ever losing control of her fire like Aang did)

The sea water thing came from the practice of putting salt water in a wound to clean it out. I've heard it go both ways on whether this is a good idea, that it will either clean it out or the microbes in the ocean will make it worse. Given some of the other traditional folk remedies, this seemed like a plausible one to use and it doesn't matter if it would really work or not.

Thanks to all who reviewed, and Avocadolove for betaing, fair warning, the next chapter may not be for awhile, finals are coming up.

**Preview for next chapter:** It's said all roads go through Omashu, and it seems to be true. As out hero's try to make it through the city they find themselves captured. Can they survive being in the clutches of the very man who trained Aang in earth bending?


	7. The King of Omashu

**Avatar: The Last Firebender**

**Book 1, Chapter 7**

**The King of Omashu**

OoOoO

"So that's Omashu…" Sokka said, looking upwards to the top of the mountain. "Wow…"

Azula had to admit that Omashu was certainly a unique site. In terms of sheer size, some of the Fire Nation cities might be bigger, but none were built so completely on a single mountain. Still, just because it was like nothing she'd ever seen before didn't mean she was going to stand around all day looking at it. "Come on." She motioned for them to follow.

"HEY YOU!" The three of them looked around, before realizing that the guard was talking to the man ahead of them who was pushing a cart load of Duckens. "No wild animals! We've had too many escapes."

"But they're not-" The merchant began to protest.

"No leash, no cages, wild enough for me." With that the guard gave a quick stomp, sending the cart flying.

"MY DUCKENS!"

All three exchanged nervous glances, before Katara brightened up. "I know." Digging into the bag on Sukara's back, she pulled out a piece of rope. She then wrapped it around Sukara, between the front legs and the ears, which, for lack of a better word could be referred to as the 'neck'. "See, it's a leash."

"I'm not sure-" Sokka began.

"Move it you kids!" shouted someone in the line behind.

The guards blocked the way. "Didn't you hear? No wild animals!"

"He's not wild. He had a leash, see?" Katara smiled at the guards.

"He's a killer whale-wolf." The guard lifted his leg, but stopped when he heard a low growl. It was then that he noticed how _big_ and _sharp_ its teeth were, and remembered how fast whale-wolves were supposed to be.

"You know what, just go on through."

"Thank you," said Katara, waving as she walked past him.

OoOoOoOo

The trip to Omashu went near perfectly. Azula had been able to find fresh fruit (Sukara's hunting was nice, but only Sokka was willing to go on an all meat diet). She had found an inn that was cheap and not to obvious, with a stable that was willing to take Sukara (mainly because there weren't any other animals lodging in it that night, but they took what they could get).

Azula had spent the rest of the day with Katara and Sokka simply exploring the city. It was actually rather nice. The crowds were thick enough so that there was almost no chance of being spotted, and enough circus animals came wandering through that having a pet Whale-Wolf didn't get nearly the stares she had expected. Azula did keep one ear open for rumors, just because they were enjoying themselves was no reason not to be productive.

Azula really should have known it was too good to last. It was as they were passing near the butcher district that disaster struck. In hindsight feeding Sukara only five rabideer steaks then entire day was foolish, but hindsight is always twenty-twenty.

Sukara stopped, sniffing the air "What is it?" asked Katara. A second later Sukara gave a cry of joy and ran as fast as she could go. "WAIT, STOP, HEEL!" Katara desperately shouted as she tried to hold the animal back. Unfortunately she was a 100 pound girl trying to hold back a half-ton Killer Whale-Wolf, which worked about as well as expected.

As Katara was dragged through the street, Sokka and Azula ran after her. All of a sudden Sukara turned a corner, and there was a loud crash, followed by a yell of indignation "AHHHH! MY DUCKENS!"

As Azula and Sokka rounded the corner, they were greeted with the sight of a smashed cart, an angry merchant, several duckens running free from their cages, and Sukara in the middle of it all; eating a ducken whole and looking as happy as a pig-cow in mud. Sokka rushed over to check on Katara, but just as he reached her, he found someone grabbing his wrist. "Hey! What do you think you're doing?"

"Putting you under arrest," replied the guard.

OoOoOoOo

After Azula witnessed the arrest, she turned around and quickly walk away. It wasn't that she was afraid, but the king of Omashu was a pawn of the Avatar, and if she was caught she'd never be able to save the Fire Nation. She wanted to help, but there were already too many guards, and with only a single bridge out of Omashu, they'd never escape. Better two people get captured than three.

_Just like at the capital_. Azula immediately suppressed that thought. It was nothing like the Capital, they could have escaped the capital. It wasn't so hopeless, if Mai and Ty Lee had just trusted her they could have all gotten out. Besides Katara and Sokka had gotten themselves into this mess, and it wasn't like they were friends, just allies. It only made sense. Besides, they would probably just be sent to a minor judge and forced to pay a fine or do community service. If they did get jailed she could rescue them later.

Unfortunately Azula was so focused on the fact that she was not abandoning them, and she did not see them as friends, and that she did not, in any way, shape or form feel guilty that she didn't notice as she walked straight into a pottery cart, which crashed over, breaking the contents all over the street.. She found herself arrested and cuffed before she even realized what had happened.

OoOoOoOo

Azula was going to _kill_ Katara. As she was arrested and led to where Sokka and Katara were being held, the girl had cried out "Azula!" Granted, to be fair, Katara had realized her mistake a moment later, and she was probably still rather disoriented from being dragged though several street by a hungry Whale-Wolf. But honestly Azula was in no mood to be fair, as she was now handcuffed, guarded by twenty earthbenders, and being directly escorted to see the king.

As they were marched through the halls of the palace Azula tried to recall all she knew about the King. His name was Bumi, and he was one of the oldest and most powerful of the Avatar's lackey's.

Looking around, Azula could see the murals on the wall depicting the training of the Avatar and the destruction of the Fire Nation colonies.

"Kneel before the King," ordered the captain of the guards. Azula was pushed to the ground. She looked up to see the Earth King. What she saw couldn't have surprised her more. From the descriptions she'd read in the Fire Nation texts and the murals around the palace she'd expected something… grander. A ten foot high giant - terrible and imposing - ready to destroy the enemies of the Avatar. Instead she saw… a hunchbacked old man in a chair with a rather pronounced squint.

"What should we do with them, your Majesty?"

The old man looked down. "Throw them…. A Feast!" Several of the guards made sounds of confusion. "After all, we haven't had Fire Nation royalty inside the Earth Kingdoms in years," the old man continued. His tone turned nasty and he began to smirk.

OoOoOo

The silence around the table was uncomfortable, oppressive even. Katara was still trying to shrink in on herself, while Azula was barely containing her rage. Meanwhile Sokka looked torn between the food at the table and the fear it was poisoned.

As if reading his mind, Bumi spoke up, "What's the matter, afraid it's poisoned? I assure you I don't make a habit of poisoning my guests. That said I would look out for the dishes that look to unfamiliar, with as the trade as a result of the new roads, even I can't keep up with all the exotic dishes." Bumi began to walk around the table as he spoke, lowering himself near Katara and mock-whispering into her ear "Be especially careful to watch out for the Eastern province's dishes, they have an annoying habit of stuffing cheese into everything they can."

Unfazed by the lack of response he continued, picking up a chicken leg. "You, you look like you like meat." He dropped the leg on the floor, where Sukara immediately rushed over to eat it.

"Traitor," whispered Sokka, but neither was listening as Bumi had already gone back to his seat, with Sukara following him.

"So," Bumi started, as he dropped a steak on the floor. "How are things going in the Fire Nation? I imagine you're in a bit of hot water!" He let out a continuous stream of snorts and giggles, but stopped after he failed to get a laugh from any of them. "Tough crowd…. How's the Nation going Princess Azula? Haven't heard much recently about... What's his name, Bu Ni, Sue Men…"

"Lu Ten," Azula growled, mulling over whether it would be worth it to burn the man right here, consequences be damned.

Bumi dumped a whole ducken on the floor. "Right, never seemed like a very Fire Lordy name to be. Fire Lord Sozin? Great. Fire Lord Azulon? Scary. Heck even Iroh has some dignity about it, but Lu Ten… I just can't fear it. What has the Fire Nation come to? Why back in _my_ day-"

"Enough!" Azula shouted, slamming her fist on the table. "This stupid dinner is nothing more than an embarrassing farce. You captured us, and you're going to hand me over to your masters, you could at least give me the dignity of an honest capture!"

"Really now, young people these days are so rude. In my day we'd never dream of such mouthyness." Bumi spoke with barely contained mirth. "But if you're going to be like that then I'll have to send you to bed with no desert. Guards, take them to the guest room."

One of the guards leaned forward "Sir, do you mean the guest room, or the prison we use for high ranking prisoners?"

"Didn't you hear the Princess? She said she wants to be treated like a prisoner and I never refuse and request…. Actually I do, but this time I won't."

OoOoOo

The room was actually rather nice. Granted the lack of windows, or even door, somewhat detracted from the decor, but otherwise it was really a wonderful room. Azula summoned up two flares of flame.

"What are you doing?" asked Sokka.

"Getting us out of here." With that Azula brought her hands together, creating one large flame. She jumped forward into a firebending stance, summoning a steady stream of flame out towads the walls. The tapestries quickly caught fire. She began to rotate around, burning each and every exquisitely woven tapestry in turn, before turning her attention to the beds. With no windows, and only a small airshaft, the room quickly began to fill with smoke.

"Azula, you're going to kill us!" Katara wheezed and Sukara let out a whine of pain.

"That's the idea," she shouted back, by now the room was far too thick with smoke for Katara or Sokka to see, and Sukara didn't have a prayer of smelling her.

Azula ducked down in order to better avoid the smoke. Waiting several tense moments, she finally heard what she had been waiting for all along, the sound of the earth being moved to form an opening. Azula quickly launched two blasts of fire at the direction of the sound, and ran to the opening. Once she was out of the room she saw she needn't have bothered; Sukara had run out of the room in a blind panic, bowling over the guards.

Looking around, Azula could see she was in the same hallway she had entered the room through, or at least they looked identical. "Come on," she yelled to back to the room and took off running, hoping the siblings were behind her.

She immediately came upon two guards. Azula grinned; If the king was stupid enough to only send a few guards down this was going to be easier than she had thought…

OoOoOo

The escape wasn't going nearly as well as she'd hoped. It wasn't the guards. Aside from the two initially guarding the room and the two she seen in the hall she hadn't encountered any others, at all. The problem was the damned hallways; they all looked the same. She had wanted to avoid the King's room, which was sure to be guarded, but had gotten completely lost. She hadn't seen Katara or Sokka since she'd escaped, and imagined they were probably captured, or maybe they got lucky and got out, either way it wasn't like it mattered now.

Azula growled in frustration, the last three hallways had all turned left, with no other options, which meant she was going to end up right back where she started. She didn't have time for this, the guards had probably already found the room and were looking for her already. As she got to the end of the hallway she stopped in confusion, it was another left turn, with no way to go to the right, but that didn't make any sense. If there was no way to go right how could she have entered the passage in the first place? Maybe she had misjudged the hallway and it was slowly going up or down? Cursing the architect who designed this place, Azula began to back track.

As Azula ran back through the hallway she finally reached the end, and turned left. It wasn't until the second left that she realized what was wrong, if she had gotten here because the hallway turned left, then is should turn right as she curved back. It was impossible; unless her mind was playing tricks on her. Hallways didn't move.

Or they were made of stone, and the people capturing you were earthbenders with a king who had a sick sense of humor…

"ARRRRGH" Flame flew from Azula's mouth. Slumping to the floor, she acknowledged her defeat. As if recognizing there would be no more games, stone slid out from the walls on each side, forming two more walls and trapping her once again. Though it wasn't like she had ever truly been free.

OoOoOo

It was dawn… at least Azula guessed it was dawn. She couldn't see the sun, but she felt like it was dawn, when a section of the walls came down, revealing Bumi, surrounded by several guards. "Well now, haven't we had an exciting night? You know people like you are the reason prisoners can't have nice things, no respect for other people's property."

Azula refused to rise to the bait. She stood up and let herself be handcuffed. At least it was better than the indignity of being hauled up. At least this way she had some illusion of control.

"Now let's see your friends." Bumi clapped his hands, and one of the walls lowered to reveal Sokka and Katara, also handcuffed.

"You tried to kill us!" Sokka yelled running forwards and shoving his face right up to Azula's.

"I wasn't trying to kill you. I was trying to make them let us out, and it worked!" she yelled back

"Oh yeah worked real well. Maybe you could have TOLD US!"

"I thought you could have figured it out on your own!"

Bumi clapped his hands together "Ah young love. I remember my days. The yelling, the fights, even the stone handcuffs." This statement managed to stop the argument cold as everyone looked at Bumi with expressions of mixed horror and/or confusion, sending him into snorts of laughter.

Azula sighed in exasperation "What is it you want? Have the Air Nomads already come?"

Bumi shook his head. "Actually that's what I wanted to talk you about. I could turn you over to the Air Nomads… but this is my kingdom and I get to decide the punishments. So I'm thinking… civil service."

" 'Civil Service', so you want us to assassinate someone." Azula responded.

"What makes you think that?"

"Simple, in any city of this size there are people who are both thorns in your side, but too well connected to kill. If a traveling Fire Nation escapee did it... well you couldn't be blamed."

Bumi went back into a fit of giggling. "Goodness me, no. I just want help with a few palace tasks…"

oOoOoO

"This is your 'task'? Azula demanded, looking over the edge at the pouring water and spikes underneath.

"Certainly. I lost the key to my lunch box and I need Sokka here to retrieve it."

"Why me?"

"Because in my kingdom each of the criminals needs to work, Of course you could trade it to one of your friends, and maybe see what else I have cooked up…" Bumi grinned.

Sokka took a long look at the cavern. On each side was a sharp drop, while at the bottom several stalagmites were growing upward. The key hung over the center area, where a large waterfall poured onto a raised spire. Thinking about it the center spire was clearly unnatural, it was bigger than any of the other, when the waterfall should have made it smaller. Sokka supposed he should have been grateful, the king could have chosen to make it much steeper. "I'll do it."

"Be careful, the water's cold." Bumi yelled as Sokka slid down the incline. As Sokka reached the bottom he was surprised to find how shallow it was, barely coming up to his ankles. Nor was it cold, in fact it was fairly warm… at least by the standards of a boy from the South Pole.

The mist of the waterfall loomed before him. Climbing up one of the spires, he took one last look, trying to judge the distance. Sokka ran down the stalagmite, building up as much momentum as he could. The harsh spray of the water and mist forced him to close his eyes, and he nearly lost his balance at the dual surprises of the waterfall proper crashing down on him and change in footing as he began to run up the spire.

Desperately, Sokka flayed his arms upward, running against the water and up the spire. Just as his legs were about to give out, his right hand banged into one of the bars of the ladder. Quickly grabbing it with both hands, he began to pull himself upward. A lifetime of helping his dad pull up fishing nets began to pay off; as he had to pull himself up with his arms until he was high enough to get his feet on the ladder. Sokka began to climb, if he had counted right he had twenty-seven rungs to go.

26-25-24-23

The water continued to pour down, unceasing, by this time Sokka suspected he was even more thoroughly soaked than when Katara practiced her waterbending.

22-21-20-19

It was stupid, really. He should have removed his shirt before going, now it was weighing him down, being pounded by the water.

18-17-16

It was really hard to breath, with all the water. However the water didn't fall evenly in all places. The whole is came up from wasn't perfectly smooth, and as such there were points in the ladder where the water fell especially hard, and places where it didn't. Mercifully there were a few place where the water streamed around. Where he could grab a few desperate gasps of air.

15-14-13

For that matter everything hurt, his legs, his arms, his shoulder… maybe he could get Katara to do some of healing, if her own test didn't maul her. The thought of her getting hurt gave him enough anger to get a few more rungs.

12-11-10-9

The bastard king was yelling something, though Sokka couldn't hope to make out what.

8-7-6

Just a few more rungs now…

5-4

Just a bit more…

3-2

Sokka desperately stretched out his right hand, hoping to grab the key. He tried to open his eyes, but the torrent of water was too much. He flayed his hand, hoping to get the key. Whether he had misjudged the distance, or the key was simply too small, he couldn't tell. He stretched out, hoping to find it, and his hand hit something, but just as he did his other hand began to lose its grip. Desperately Sokka reached back toward the ladder, but before he could his left hand had already slipped, and he was falling….

OoOoOo

Sokka shut his eyes even tighter than before, expecting to feel the impact any second now. Time seemed to slow, like he was suspended in the water…. No wait, he _was_ suspended in the water! Opening his eyes, he saw Katara had bended a globe of water to stop him, and was holding it up.

"Hey, no cheating!" shouted Bumi, pulling Katara's arms. Sokka landed painfully on the ground, while Bumi had the guards re-cuff a struggling Katara. "Well now boy, you almost had it that time, one more charge ought to do it."

Sokka almost considered it. Though he was tired, he had almost had the key last time, if he had just gotten a bit further… No that wouldn't work, even if he got the key he would still have to get down, Katara wouldn't be able to save him. He needed some way to get that key, but what? Bumi hadn't taken his clothes or even searched him, so he had some rope, a few pieced of food that would once be considered "dried" and …. his boomerang.

Sokka felt like slapping himself, but didn't want to waist the energy. Pulling it out he began to judge the distance, he was somewhat far away from the water fall now, just outside of the mist. Hoping he was right he threw his arm forward and let the boomerang fly.

Bumi's running commentary continued. "Oh very nice, though it looks like you aimed a little high…."

His words were cut short as the Boomerang entered the waterfall. The intense pressure of the water drove it downward, but it continued to fly. Finally it hit the key, the force of the waterfall giving it enough power to split the key from the rest of the chain.

After all that, fishing the key and the boomerang out of the water as they washed away from the waterfall was rather anticlimactic.

OoOoOoO

Sokka down looked from above "How is that fair? I nearly get killed by the sharp rocks, and all she has to do it get a bunny? I should have gone with the trade."

"There are no whiners in my kingdom, also." Bumi replied. "Come on now, daddy wants a kiss from Flopsy."

Katara moved forward hoping this time the rabbit wouldn't run away. Bending down, she motioned to it "Come're, Flopsy," she said in her best "mother" voice.

The rabbit began to hop towards her, but just as she was about to grab it a massive thud came from behind, scaring it away. Turning around, Katara gave a yell. In front of her was a massive gorilla-goat. It's hands were as big as her head, it's fangs were easily the size of Sukara's. Giving a howl, the creature readied it's messily muscled legs and ran towards her. She ran away as fast as she could, trying to catch the rabbit before the monster caught her.

A second later another thud appeared and Katara turned to see Sukara had jumped down and was running towards her.

OoOoOo

"She gets help mhhh mhhh" Sokka was cut off as the two earthbenders around him formed a "gag" of earth around his mouth.

"What did I tell you about whiners?" Bumi clicked his tongue "It's my pet, it her pet, seems fair, but if it lays so much as one tooth on my Flopsy it's fish fry."

"What is that stupid thing doing?" Azula growled. 'That stupid thing' being Sukara, who was proving to be much faster than either the gorilla-goat or Katara. Instead of attacking, it kept running back and forth between them, giving off a whine.

Katara was forced to ignored it. She was trying to catch Flopsy without being crushed by the Gorilla-Goat.

"Not now, stop him, please!" Katara begged, desperately trying to make Sukara understand this wasn't some sort of game. Sukara snorted, and gave a little growl before running off. Katara hoped it had understood and turned her attention back to finding Flopsy. She spotted the rabbit a few feet ahead heading for a hole in the rocks. Luckily she was close and would be able to catch it before it got there.

SNAP!

In one second, Katara's world dropped out from her. Sukara was in front of her, with the King's favorite pet in its bloody jaws. She tried to think of something to yell, but couldn't and was quickly distracted by the gorilla-goat bearing down on her. She screamed in terror. The gorilla goat gave a pause, cocking its head. It wasn't attacking. Why—

"Flopsy?" she called out questioningly.

The gorilla- goat came to an almost immediate halt. Then he picked her up and began cradling her in its arms.

"Come on now, daddy wants a kiss from Flopsy!" Bumi cried out, and Flopsy ran off, getting its belly rubbed by the king. Meanwhile, Sukara ran over to Katara and lay on its back, wanting its own belly rub. Katara decided that he defiantly deserved it.

OoOoOo

"Alright old man, let's get the farce over with." Azula called out, her contempt showing.

Bumi grinned; they had been escorted back to the throne room for Azula's service. "Your civil service? Do you really want to know?"

"Of course, I assume that is why you brought me here, or are we going to take another tour of the palace."

Bumi continued smiling, he voice smug, though not as loud as before. "Oh no, I know exactly what I want you to do."

"Well."

"I want you to capture two very dangerous criminals for me."

"So you _were_ after something real, I knew it! So who are they, some crime lord you can't touch?"

"Their names… are Katara and Sokka."

"WHAT!"

"YOU SAID WE WERE FREE!" Katara yelled.

"MHHH MHHH HMMM!"

Bumi laughed. "I said you were free to go, and you are. You two can walk out that door at any time, but if she wants to go, she'll have to recapture you." Bumi's grin widened as he turned to Azula "So what's it going to be? Let your friends go? Or save yourself? If won't be hard, they're too _loyal_ to leave," he said the last word with contempt." I saw your escape, so come on princess; you can go. Just show me what you really are."

The room stood still, silence reigned as all the Azula looked from Katara, to Sokka to Bumi. Her nation rested on her. She couldn't let it fall. Her family was dead or captured, and the last free Fire Navy ship was destroyed. If she didn't get free, everything was lost….

"I challenge you to an Agni-Kai!" she shouted pointing at Bumi.

For the first time since meeting him, Azula saw an expression of genuine puzzlement on Bumi's face. Whatever he had expected, it wasn't this. After about a minute of silence he began to laugh. "Hehe, haha, you stupid girl, 'snort' I'm not a firebender, hoho you can't challenge me."

"That's where you're wrong. The original Agni-Kai scrolls state that the duel must be called by a Firebender, against 'one of the same power.' This could be interoperated to say firebenders, or could be just benders. 400 years ago, in response to then Prince Lee challenging and killing his twelve year old brother, it was ruled that potential firebenders could not participate, only someone who had actually demonstrated the talent could be fought, even royal family members who are always firebenders. Furthermore, 350 years ago Avatar Kyoshi was challenged to an Agni-Kai as a young earthbender, just as she entered the Fire Nation before she learned to firebend. She accepted and the duel was fought. Since this one was accepted as a fair duel, and she could only use earthbending, we must conclude earth benders are acceptable!"

Bumi blinked, try to digest Azula's rapid speech, which she hoped he wouldn't examine to closely. "And why would I accept?"

Azula grinned, "You won't. The kingship of Omashu is founded on strength. Despite the oh-so sappy origin story, Omashu has always stood between several strategic passes, and has fought many wars. Your catacombs are littered with arenas, and the strongest earth benders used to be the king. Even now, though you claim to be past that I don't believe it. You decorate your meeting hall with reminders of your strength. If your people knew how weak you really were you wouldn't last a week."

The guards around the court began murmuring, while Azula pressed on. "But I've been watching you. You never bend on your own. Even something as simple as handcuffs or gags are done by guards. Frankly old man, you're weak. Now decline. You may imprison me, but you won't last long enough to hand me over. You've sold out your kingdom to the Air Nomads and the Avatar. You're their little lapdog, begging for scraps."

Bumi's sat their frozen for a few seconds ,and Azula allowed herself to reveal in her own triumph, seeing the looks of the officers in the room she knew a cue wouldn't be long in the making. Then Bumi grinned, "I accept," he said as he stomped his foot, and the floor beneath Azula crumbled.

Azula fell. She desperately pointed her hands and feet at the rapidly approaching ground, letting loose a stream of fire to slow her fall. The landing wasn't her most graceful, but she managed to avoid any major damage. Looking around she saw she was in a massive arena, but her attention was quickly called back upwards as more rocks dropped around her. Above she could see the stone cavern opening up, revealing the more distant painted ceiling of the throne room. Azula could just barely make out people running away from the edges of the falling ceiling, or falling floor from their perspective.

A massive thump focused her on the Arena again. Bumi had landed on the other end. "So," he began, straitening his back. "You thought I was just a frail old man." He let his cloak fall to the side, revealing his massively muscled body. "I was the greatest earthbender ever when I trained Aang, and I've only gotten better-" He was cut off from a massive stream of blue fire. Azula continued to direct a steady stream of blue fire towards Bumi. She was forced to roll out of the way as a large slab of rock came towards her.

"Typical Firebender tactic, attack first." Bumi droned. Forming his hand into a flat "paper", he gave a flick of his wrist and began lifting slabs of rock from the ground, using them as makeshift walls against Azula's blasts before hurling them towards her. "You're a smart girl. I was hoping for something a bit more creative. Yet all you can do is attack, attack without thinking, attack without waiting. You burn your room, challenge me to duel, start with a full attack... Just like your great-grandfather when he tried to destroy the Air Nomads. We beat him then, and I'll beat you now."

"They attacked us!" Azula yelled back as she leapt to the side of massive boulder.

"Attack?" Bumi gave a chuckle. "The Air Nomads attacked you? They didn't even have an army."

"They claim not to have an army right now."

"Oh good point girl," Bumi murmured as he put his hands behind his back and began stomping the ground. "But back then they meant it."

Azula jumped to avoid the massive spikes that came up from the ground. She jumped onto one of the risen spikes, hoping Bumi would be less able block attacks that didn't come from ground level. Bumi responded by conjuring another wall in front of him, angled towards him to cover himself from the aerial blasts. A second later the spike Azula was standing on broke. Adjusting herself to land on her feet Azula found Bumi had turned the ground beneath her into some sort of sand and she was sinking fast. Concentrating on her feet, she released a stream of flame to propel herself out. Her feet, partially stuck in the ground, felt like they were going to be ripped off as she blasted herself out , but at least she wasn't a stationary target.

Azula needed to end this quickly; she was already tired, and Bumi didn't even look like he was slowing down. She began to charge up a lightning blast, but was interrupted by a barraged of small stones, which were thrown much quicker than the larger boulders.

"I don't think so girl." Said Bumi, waving all the fingers on his hands to propel the stones. "You think I don't know about your little lightning trick? Now let me show you what an Earth Kingdom finishing move looked like."

Azula growled in rage, but was cut short by the sound of stone breaking behind her. Looking over her shoulder she saw Bumi had grabbed a large section of the wall, and was now bringing it towards her. Azula stood for a spilt-second, before smiling. She stood where she was, and began directing a stream of blue flame at the oncoming rock.

Bumi grinned.

A split second before the rock hit, Azula dodged to the side. It was then that Bumi realized that he was in the path of the rock now. Quickly he bent it, disintegrating it as it touched him. Azula took advantage of his momentary distraction, moving within a few feet and putting herself in the perfect firebending stance.

Bumi blinked as he saw that he was beaten, raising his arms in surrender. Then he smiled. Azula frowned, trying to figure out what he was smiling about when a pebble dropped on her. Looking up she saw a massive boulder over the both of them. She wanted to cry out in frustration. If it dropped, Bumi's earthbending would let him live, but she would certainly die. If she fired Bumi would lose control and it would drop. She would be crushed, and given that only a split second of flame would hit Bumi, he would live, injured, but alive. She had lost.

"SIR!" A guard's voice rang out from above.

"What is it!" Bumi yelled angrily "Can't you see I'm BUSY?"

"But you said to give you it as soon as the reply came-"

"Ohhhh! That! Well give it to me then!"

"Err…." The guard looked down, not sure how to make the drop.

"I meant read it you fool."

"Yes sir!" The guard unfolded the scroll he was carrying. "Avatar Aang send his greetings and—"

"Yes or No?"

The guard stopped, and scanned the letter for whatever answer it was Bumi desired. Finally he found it. "Sorry sir, he says he can't come."

Bumi sighed, and for the first time Azula had seen him he looked _old._ Not old and crazy as his first appearance, nor old and tricky, as Azula had later seen. Now he just looked old and tired.

Compared with the recent fight it was quite a change.

"You know what? Forget it." Bumi gave a grunt as he tore the rock above in two, allowing both sides to fall around them. Azula was far too shocked by this development to capitalize on it, and stood there as Bumi created a pillar of earth to raise them back up towards the throne room. Once they reached the top, he bent a thin bridge of earth towards the still intact parts of the floor. "Well, come on."

Wordlessly Azula followed, still too confused to try anything. Meanwhile Katara , Sokka and Sukara, followed. The guards trailed behind them.

"Do you know," Bumi turned to Azula "when the last time I saw Aang was?"

"No?" Azula had by this time started to recover her wits, but with Bumi in front, and his guards behind there was still nothing she could do.

"Thirty years ago," he said as he began to climb a spiraling staircase. "THIRTY YEARS! Even since then he's barely gone out of his damn temple. He wouldn't even come to my 100th birthday. We'd been planning it since we were 75. We were going to have a joint one, there was even going to be cake. It was a really nice cake too, delicious and moist."

Bumi trailed off, lamenting the cake. Finally Azula couldn't take it any more "Does this story have a point?"

Bumi stopped. "Impatient Firebenders. As I was saying Aangy hasn't left The Southern Air Temple. He keeps sending me letters, but never comes, despite his promises. In fact the only times he goes out of that temple are when he's fighting that damn war against the Fire Nation. Apparently they're important enough for him, but his best friend Bumi isn't."

"What about Kyoshi Island?" Sokka asked before he could stop himself.

Bumi looked angry for a second, "Weren't you gagged?....Kyoshi island, tell me boy did you actually go there… of course you did, you must be the one they captured. Well let me tell you something boy, he only comes for a few minutes, and only to perform enough tricks to keep them amazed. Frankly I don't even think it's him."

"So then," Bumi continued, stepping into the sunlight as the stair opened up to one of the terraces of the city. "I've come to a decision. If his stupid war is more important to him than his best friend, then he's not going to get my help with it."

"What?" Azula asked. Any further questions were cut off as four waist-high stone walls surrounded her, the siblings and Sukara before closing in on them. The walls packed them together, but stopped before they actually crushed them. "WHAT ARE YOU-?"

"Bye-Bye!" Bumi shoved the air, and all of a sudden the stone walls purpose became clear, as they now formed a cart, which was sliding down an extremely steep slope. Katara yelled in terror. Sokka tried to, but had been awkwardly packed in such a way that his face was facing the bottom of the crate, and couldn't get off a proper yell. Even Azula let out a scream of terror. Sukara's bulk had left her arms pinned and she has facing backwards and _couldn't move_. Sukara just stuck her tongue out and panted.

"Hehe, snort, hoho snort snort snort haha…" Bumi stopped, looking at the guards "Well what are you waiting for? The prisoners are escaping, get them!" The guard scrambled, trying to figure the fastest way down, while Bumi continued his laughter.

OoOoOoO

The trip down had not been fun. The stone cart had been designed for a few hundred pounds at most. Not the ton half-a-ton that Sukara weighed. The extra weighed has quickly caused them to go off the track at the first turn, smashing through several roofs and houses. Azula managed to duck her head down. Her arms were still pinned, but at least she didn't get smashed by the walls.

Finally the cart had ended up rushing towards the outer stone wall, but by some miracle there had been a hole big enough for the cart to rush through. Azula wasn't sure if it was some sort of storm gutter, or if the King had somehow managed to arrange it to be earth bended open, though Azula couldn't imagine how.

After clearing the wall, the cart had slid over the cliff edges, falling into the water. Luckily the river below Omashu was much deeper than it looked, though Azula still wasn't sure how they had survived, though the fall had managed to get her unstuck. She had nearly drowned, but managed to grab onto Sukara. Sukara ended up swimming them downstream to a small embankment. As Azula walked onto shore, she decided she really hated the feeling of nearly drowning, and she really, _really _hated crazy kings.

OoOoOo

**Author's Notes**: So that was my "King of Omashu". The Sokka bit gave me the most trouble, and for those who are wondering the spike at the center was earthbended to be less steep for Sokka than it was for Aang in canon, without Airbending Bumi figured it would be impossible, and he likes a fighting chance.

Before anyone yells at me for making Aang heartless, just remember we haven't heard his side of the story, and it's a bit more complex than he's simply too focused on the war. Rest assured that Aang will get an appearance, and that the reason he hasn't come for 30 years will be explained before the end of the season.

Before yelling at me for making Sokka heartless (the complaining while Katara life is endangers). Let me remind you

Rule of comedy

He's already stuck on the unfairness thing, people can be really stupid when their stuck on something.

Fyi I love my reviews, even the negative ones. If you have something you don't like, tell me I'm just as curious about that as I am about what you like, plus it allows me to either address it, or lets me notice what isn't working, either way it can't hurt.

I also like to give a special shout out to the following people. As always, my Beta-Reader Avacadolove. Sabergirl1005, for being my most consistent reviewer. 42nd-Ghoul, for giving me the most detailed review ever, and Ogro for reviewing consistently and giving fairly detailed reviews. Much love to all of you, as well as everyone else who reviewed.

**Preview:** As our hero's proceed North of Omashu they encounter the town of Senlin, located amongst its scenic forest. Here the famous fortune teller Aunt Wu lives. While Katara is eager to visit her, Sokka and Azula snort of the practice. But when they ignore her warning not to travel through the forest at night the consequences may be dire than they could possibly imagine….

Meanwhile the comedy styling's of Jamayang and Zhao will continue, but can the dynamic duo handle the most challenging thing any male has ever encountered, a waterbending woman?


	8. Winter SolsticeThe Fortuneteller

**Avatar: The Last Firebender**

**Book 1, Chapter 8**

**Winter Solstice: Part 1-The Fortuneteller**

Commander Zhao had finally come to a decision. It wasn't the pain that was the worst part. Zhao was used to pain, and before he had learned Fire Bending he had gotten into a lot of schoolyard fights. His superior size had always allowed him to win, but he was well used to those he was fighting getting in a few good hits before he was able to catch them. As a basic grunt he had taken his share of knocks from Air Nomad blasts. Even his firebending had brought pain, over-bending and burning himself many times. Pain was a part of life. Pain, he could deal with.

What he couldn't deal with was the damn waiting. His arms were too injured to even think of bending. He could barely move them at all. "I thought you said the healer would be here?"

"Please calm down, that sort of anger can't be good for your health. Though I admit I am no healer. Hmmmm."

That was the other thing he couldn't deal with, the damn attitude. The stupid calm aura that surrounded Jamayang like a cloak. Just once Zhao would like to see him… get angry or at least do something other than that damn hum of amusement. Gritting his teeth, Zhao tried to calm down. Looking down at the deck from the top of the pagoda, he focused on watching the Air Nomads "train".

He hesitated to even call it that. Unlike the proper disciple of Fire Nation regiments, the Air Nomads training was absolute chaos. There were no lines or formations. Rather each Air Nomad was a man to himself, trying to knock the others overboard. They were constantly leaping, dodging, and flying around to avoid the others blasts and giving their own in turn. It infuriated him. The Air Nomads had practically taken over half the deck with their damn bison , and now they were practically making it into a battle ground. "Shouldn't you be out there with them?" Zhao snapped.

"Hmmmm. I do occasionally participate, but I have my own methods. Still, you are right, I should begin." With that Jamayang got up and left the room. Zhao let off a sigh of relief; some peace and quiet… or rather a break from the oppressive peace as the case was. Zhao focused on the deck, it would be worthwhile to see if Jamayang was really worthy to be a Commander. After a few minutes Zhao began to get annoyed, where was he? It wasn't until he heard the distinct click of something being set down that Zhao was drawn back into room. He whirled around, preparing to yell at the foolish subordinate who dared interrupt him- only to see Jamayang, sitting down with a Guqin (Chinese string instrument) on his lap.

"What are you doing?"

"Training, Admiral Zhao."

"I meant train your air bending, not some stupid instrument." Jamayang's only response what to give a little sigh of disappointment. Feeling insulted, Zhao looked for some other ammo, then as he saw the Gupin Jamayang had picked up. He laughed. "Did you even bother to look? That instrument's broken, Lieutenant Ji managed to break all but one of the strings last time he tried to play it.

Jamayang didn't respond, he merely began playing. The tune was short, and somewhat distorted, but recognizable none the less, 'brave solider boy.'

"But…how?" Zhao asked.

"I am an Air Nomad, we manipulate air. Air is the medium through which sound travels. Manipulate the medium, manipulate the message." Jamayang gave another sigh. "Though not very well that time, I'm afraid. The tune was simply awful. I could blame in the instrument, but I had hoped to be able to do it even with a sub-optimal instrument."

As Jamayang continued to pluck the strings Zhao realized he was right. The music really _was_ awful. Gritting his teeth, he hoped Azula was as miserable as he was.

OoOoOo

It wasn't fair. Azula didn't even particularly like shopping. She had purchased supplies for the ship; it had blown up. She had gotten supplies for the journey; they had been taken by Bumi, and she had been _thrown off the edge of the city_. The one bit of consolidation was that he had apparently left of sack of money tied to Sukara's back… Azula still wasn't sure how he had pulled that off without any of them noticing. Looking inside, she wasn't sure if it was a favor or his idea of a joke. All the coins had either Bumi or the Avatar's face on them. They were all real denominations of Omashu currency, but…

Now they had to go through another town and hope it was big enough to have a general store. And this time her face was probably going to be on every Air Nomad wanted poster from here to the Outer Walls of Ba Sing Se. Meanwhile, she was tired, hungry, her clothes were still damp and she had been walking the same forsaken road hoping they were going the right direction out of this damn forest for who knows how many hours.

The sound of someone running towards them made Azula put her guard up. When he came into view Azula saw him drawing something out of his pack. She slid into a full firebending stance, preparing to fight against his… umbrella?

The man barely stopped running as he got to them, shoving the umbrella into Azula's hands as quickly as he could. "-AKK!" The 'AKK' sound coming from Azula grabbing him by the collar with her free hand before he could run off.

"What are you doing?" She demanded.

"Lookpleaseletmego-" the man began struggling against Azula's hold.

"Not until I get some answers."

"."

"What?"

The man took a deep breath and started talking slightly slower, "Aunt Wu, our village's fortuneteller. I asked for how my journey would go and she said I needed to exit the woods by nightfall."

Azula frowned. "What's with the umbrella?"

"She said- Umph!" The man finally managed to struggle loose. "Give it to the travelers I meet. Gottogonowbye!" With that, the man ran off.

Azula blinked, examining the umbrella for a second before giving a derisive snort and throwing it on the ground.

Katara ran over to pick it up. "Shouldn't we be keeping it? I mean, if we're supposed to have it?"

"Please Katara, did you hear the man? Fortuneteller? There's no such thing." Sokka gave a dismissive wave of his hands.

"But-"

"I don't need a Fortune Teller to tell me my destiny." Azula added. "Just because some old woman is able to keep trick a few fools doesn't mean I'm going to act like a puppet. Now come on, there should be a village this way."

Katara sighed, but kept the umbrella anyways. She was vindicated a few minutes later when it began to pour. The rain was harsh enough they could barely see the road, and Katara wasn't sure if she was seeing things, but it looked like steam was actively rising from Azula's shoulders.

"Look they probably just saw the clouds from the village. Without any trees in the way we would have been able to-"

"Sokka?" ." Azula growled though clenched teeth.

OoOoOo

Jamayang's playing was mercifully interrupted by the arrival of one of the Air Nomad's bison. By the time he had laid down the instrument and stood up, Zhao was already headed down the stairs. Jumping off the top of the pagoda. Jamayang landed next to Zhao, who to his credit managed not to show any visible signs of surprise.

Walking along the deck, both of them were able to get a better look at the recent arrival. It was an old women, being helped down by two of the Air Nomads.

"Hama!..... Hmmmmm. When I asked for a healer I didn't mean you had to come all this way yourself."

Hama smiled and gave a dismissive wave of her hand. "Oh it was no trouble at all, really. These old bones still have a few years in them. Besides when else am I going to get a chance at a vacation?" Hama reached into one of the saddle bags and pulled out an old tome, handing it to Jamayang.

"Exotic medical plants and animals of the Western Earth Kingdom?" Jamayang smiled. "And just where did you get this?"

"From the Air Temple library. I just showed them the letter from Head Monk Jamayang and they let me check out whatever I wanted."

"Hmmmm I don't think my letter was supposed to give that permission."

Hama laughed. "Didn't say I let them read it, just flashed it quickly enough to for them to read the signature and acted like I was in a hurry."

"Excuse me, but may I be introduced?" Zhao asked, visibly annoyed at being cut out of the conversation.

"Ah, I am very sorry. Zhao, this is Hama, head of the Village of Ingaria and master waterbender. Hama this is Zhao, Admiral of the Fire Nation Southern fleet and master firebender."

"Hmmmm," Hama gave a more traditional, less amused hum as she began inspecting Zhao.

"What is it- OUCH!" Zhao yelled as one of the bandages around his arms was ripped away. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR?"

Hama ignored him as she grabbed the arm and began inspecting it. "Just what were you doing? Did you try to use this arm after it had been burnt?"

"I was in the middle of combat" he answered with surprising levelness.

"Hmph!" Hama gave a derisive snort. "Someone fetch me some water, if you had bandaged them immediately and properly this would have taken a day, but now it could be weeks…"

Zhao mentally groaned.

OoOoOo

By the time they had arrived in the village, Azula wondered if it had even been worth getting out of the river in the first place. She marched up to what she hope was the inn and threw the door open.

"What took you so long? There's some dry clothes over there, I wasn't sure of your sizes so you'll have to sort through them, and put out the fire girl. I'm not working with the Air Nomads."

Azula complied, closing her hand and dismissing the flame she had summoned. She then began to scan her surroundings, looking for any sign of ambush, as well as possible escape routes.

For the most part the room was bare. A small fire sat in the fire place, though the lack of a chimney caused the room to be smoke filled. The room was lit with several candle stands placed near the walls. Other than that the only other occupant in the room was the woman in front of her. She sat at a small table with three empty chairs, calmly drinking tea.

Katara and Sokka arrived through the door a few seconds later. Sukara was perfectly content to stay outside. "Come on, you three must be soaked right now. There are dry clothes in the room over there. Boy, you can change in the upstairs, while the girls change downstairs."

Sokka and Katara gave the woman blank looks.

"Who are you?" asked Sokka.

The woman sighed. "Didn't you read the sign outside? I'm Aunt Wu, the fortuneteller. Now hurry up." Katara went off almost immediately. Sokka and Azula were far more hesitant. However, in a battle between dry clothes and some sort of moral victory by not accepting the help of someone who claims to be a fortuneteller, dry clothes will win out every time.

OoOoOoO

"Ah, you're back." Aunt Wu looked up from a set of cards she had been laying down. "Put your dry clothes over there, and sit down so we can get to business. Meng! Come here."

A small girl of about ten or so ran from what Azula assumed was the kitchen, holding a small tray with a teapot and cups. She had two long pigtails and a missing tooth, looking like the stereotypical "cute" child from some storybook. Azula instantly hated her.

"Here you go Aunt Wu." She set the teapot on the table, and then placed one of the earthen cups at each side.

"Very good, now take wet clothes and put them near the laundry. The rest of you sit down. Honestly do I have to tell you everything twice?" Reluctantly Azula and Sokka sat down. "Now then, who wants to go first?"

"Go first?" Katara asked.

"To get your fortune told."

Sokka snorted "There's no such thing as fortunetelling."

"If you don't believe in fortune telling, then why did you come here?"

This time it was Azula who spoke up. "We came here because we were trying to find an inn. Obviously this is the wrong place so we'll be leaving now." The smug undercurrent that if she had been a real fortuneteller she'd have known this was obvious even to Katara. Azula began to get up and leave.

"WAIT!" Aunt Wu shouted "Wait. This village doesn't have an inn; however I do have two spare rooms in the upstairs. The bedrolls are already spread out. As for the fortunetelling, usually when three people come to me, it means they want their destinies foretold. So I didn't bother to check further."

Azula caught the note of desperation in her voice at the first 'wait'. Unlike the board, almost contemptuous tone she usually had, this one had been desperate, almost pleading. She instantly was on guard.

"Actually," Katara began, "I'd like my fortune told."

"Phhh." Sokka gave a derisive snort "There's no such thing. It's just showmanship and trickery."

"No, I agree with Katara. Go ahead and give us our fortune." Azula replied.

"What?" Sokka (along with everyone else) looked at Azula in confusion. She just smiled.

"Very well" answered Aunt Wu, taken slightly aback but Azula's sudden change. "Who wants to come with me first?" she asked, getting up and proceeding to another room.

"Why don't you just give your fortunes here, in this room?" Azula asked, far too sweetly.

"How dare you speak to Aunt Wu like that you big-" Meng came bursting though one of the doors, obviously having been listening in on the conversation.

"Shut it you little brat!" Azula growled back.

"No Meng, it's all right. After all, who am I to refuse to request of a princess?"

OoOoOo

Aunt Wu opened the book and turned to face Azula "Now then, what date were you born?"

"The summer solstice, year of the dragon."

"Wait a minute." Sokka interrupted. "I'm older than you. Katara's older than you!"

"And I'm still much smarter, imagine that."

"AHEM." Aunt Wu coughed. "You're as strongly fire aligned as you can be, no surprise there. Therefore we want to do a fire fortune."

Reaching to the large Sack Meng had brought out; Aunt Wu pulled out a small piece of wood and threw it into the fire.

The fire immediately flared up, burning the wood as sparks flew out. The burning piece of wood produced thick, black smog which creeped out towards Azula.

Katara was enraptured. Sokka too, though as soon as he realized it he tried to look uninterested. Azula was less impressed. "So?"

"Your star burns brightly, the flames show that. Your flames burn hotter, you can win any fight, but like the Fire Palace, not every challenge can be burnt through. The fire that burns the hottest is also the fastest to burn out." She pointed back to the fire, which had settled back into its earlier state, as if nothing had happened. "You are your own greatest danger. So strong, so easily, so soon is not the wisest thing to be. Beware yourself, do not be the instrument of your own downfall."

"Now then," Aunt Wu clapped her hands together, her voice taking on a cheery tone "Whose next?"

"Let's get this over with," Sokka began.

"Your future is full of struggle and anguish, most of it self-inflicted."

"But you didn't even look at your book or check my birthday or anything."

"I don't need my book, it's written all over your face. " She turned to Katara. "So… a waterbender eh? Looks like a tea-reading then…. Actually, when were you born?"

"During the sixth full moon of the year of the dragon."

"Year of the dragon, given the cycle at the time… five months from now. So your technically fire aligned. Huh, that's unusual for a waterbender. Still the with full moon and waterbending… let's see." Aunt Wu began flipping though the book, something she hadn't needed to do for Azula or Sokka. "AHA! Here we go." She closed the book and began rummaging through the pack, eventually producing a small vial. "Combustible fish oil, for the combination of water and fire." Aunt Wu prepared to throw the vial.

"Wait!" said Katara. "Before you do." She leaned closer, and proceeded to whisper something to Aunt Wu."

"Well I can't guarantee anything, but I can certainly be on the lookout for any signs of who." Aunt Wu replied back. She then threw the vial onto the fire, and everything broke into chaos. First the vial hit the fire, which caused a minor explosion. This knocked loose the rock above it, and a torrent of rain fell down, dousing the fire. Meanwhile Sokka, who had been leaning back on his chair, fell over. As he fell over he ended up knocking on of the shutters open. A hard gust of air blew into the room, blowing out the candles and plunging them all into darkness.

For a few minutes everything was complete chaos, yelling and the howling wind filling the room. Finally the wind died down and it began to quite down. The room was illuminated by the blue glow of Azula's fire. Sokka was on the floor, covered in rain from the window. Meng was crouched in a corner, clearly terrified. Meanwhile Katara and Aunt Wu were still in their seats, looking quite surprised. Azula silently walked over to the window, reshutting it.

"Well now… that was quite interesting." Aunt Wu began, sounding rather shocked, but trying to keep calm. "Meng, could you head over to Charan's house and ask him to replug the chimney? If he gives you any trouble remind why his wife isn't still nagging him about his habit of betting on ostrich-horse races when he goes to town. Oh and remember to grab the umbrella before you go."

Meng headed off, while Katara began to upright the candle stands and Azula lit them. Sokka rubbed his head and got up. Near the fireplace was a rapidly expanding pool of water, so relighting it wasn't going to happen.

"Now then, about your fortune. Your destiny is heavily fraught with conflict and fighting. Other than that not much is certain. As for your other question… I'm sorry I honestly can't say, but remember what you saw, I'm sure you'll know when the time is right."

Katara looked disappointed, but kept quiet. The room was silent for a minute or two before the door burst open, a large man coming in, followed by Meng. "So I hear you have chimney problems?"

Aunt Wu laughed "You know how it . I can predict what's the winning ostrich horse, but can't even think to check when my own chimney's going to go out." The man smiled, he then fell into and earthbending stance, picking up the rocks that had scattered around the fireplace. As he did Azula's eyes were drawn to a small hole in the back of the fireplace the water must have originally drained out of.

The man was still in his earthbending stance, and with a grunt of effort he reconnected the stone. "There that ought to hold it. If you have any more trouble just ask. You need any help moving the water?"

Aunt Wu gave a wave of her hand. "No I should be fine. But the rain will be over by morning, so please unplug it then."

"Alright then, tell me if anything goes wrong," he said as he headed out.

OoOoOo

Azula had had a long internal debate about staying the night, but a desire for sleep had eventually won out.

"So, what did you think? Wasn't she amazing?" Katara asked from her bedroll.

Azula sighed, as she would have much preferred to have this conversation some other time. "Honestly? No." she said , turning over.

"What? How can you say that? She knew we were coming, she knew who you were, and the predictions--"

Azula held up three fingers. "First, she had a large amount of clothes stored somewhere. She simply knew it was raining and had some ready, if someone came in soaked she would just make like she knew they were coming and direct them to the clothes. Second, by now my face is halfway across the kingdom to those in the know, and fortune telling is all about being in the know. Third, the fortunes were just trickery; all sorts of chemicals can create those effects."

"But she had three chairs, and three bedrolls."

"The table was four sided, she just had the logical number. As for the bedrolls, her servant had plenty of time to place those before we got up here."

"But didn't you want to hear the predictions?"

"Goodnight Katara."

OoOoOo

The tension on the ship was thick enough to cut with a knife. Hama had been healing Zhao's arms for the past hour. Neither had said a word. Zhao was sure she was making it painful on purpose, but wasn't going to admit to any discomfort if he could help it. There was one good side to all of this. For the first time since he had gotten on the ship, Jamayang actually looked off balance, constantly looking from Hama to Zhao with distress on his face.

"Master Jamayang?" The unfortunate Air Nomad who entered was caught in the twin gazes of Hama and Zhao.

"YeS?!" Jamayang's voice came out unnaturally high, like a teenager's voice cracking.

"We just received a message from King Bumi." The luckless Air Nomad handed the letter off and ran out of the room as quickly as possible.

Jamayang quickly tore open the seal, and silently read the letter. "Hmmmmm," he began, his voice having returned to its usual, almost musical, tone. "It seems we are in luck."

"What? Let me see." Zhao tried to get up, which lead to an intense, but quiet three way struggle between him, Hama and their dignity as she tried to keep him seated. Objectively Zhao was stronger, but Hama had better leverage. Jamayang ignored them and headed to the large Earth Kingdom map.

Placing his finger over the map, he spoke, "King Bumi reports that Azula managed to escape his confines, by heading into the river." Jamayang put his finger on Omashu. "That river flows north, and this letter is dated from late yesterday, so they shouldn't have gone far." His finger began to trace up the river. "They would probably get off at the first flat land, so that would put them about.. . the Senlin forest."

"Perfect," said Zhao. "We should be able to make it to Lin Yung port in a week or so. We can then catch them as they pass by, the only other roads heading North through the forest pass though the mountains. Azula can't afford that sort of delay."

Jamayang looked up from the trunk he was unlocking. "Hmmm. Not a bad idea, and getting the ships there would certainly be a good back up plan, but I was actually thinking of trying to catch them in the forest itself.

"Are you insane? There's no good port near that forest. We couldn't offload anywhere near where they would be. Furthermore, my ships can't get there in less than three days, and by then they could already be out."

"Hmmmm. Yes, but," Jamayang pulled out a rather thick book and began flipping through it. "Not if we go by sky bison." As if to prove his point he turned the book towards them, showing a page that appeared to be the South Western Earth Kingdom, covered with various red and blue symbols. Hama and Zhao stared in incomprehension.

"What is this?" Zhao asked.

Jamayang smiled "It's an air current map, Admiral Zhao. This book allows us to predict the Air currents based on time, data and recent weather. Simply flip to the appropriate page, and get the most likely air currents."

"And I assume this is important to Air Nomads…"

"Quite. It's much easier to fly if the wind is in your favor and hot air is keeping you afloat. It can make a huge difference to both speed and endurance. With good currents, our sky bison can stay afloat for days, but with bad, a single night can tire them out. Now then, this, " and he pointed to large red arrow, "shows that there is a warm air current, and the wind is in our favor. If we leave tonight, I believe we can arrive by morning."

"So what? Your bison can't carry that many. The forest is huge. We'd never be able to find them unless they stuck to the roads."

"Hmmmm. Normally you'd be right, however, one of my old students, Hariti, has been off investigating the spirit of the forest for the past few years. He should know his way around, and hopefully we can get them."

"Fine, we'll try your plan." Zhao finally managed to get up, as Hama had been distracted by map.

"Oh no, you are not going with him. Your arms are far from healed and-"

"I don't care!" Zhao roared. "I will capture Azula, even if I have to endure the very flames of the sun itself."

"I'm your healer, and I say no."

"Hmmmm." Jamayang sounded rather distressed as he made the sound, inserting himself between the two. "How about you both go? That way Hama can insure Zhao doesn't overly injure himself, and with a master fire, air and waterbender, any combat should be little trouble."

"WHAT?"

"ABSOLUTLY NOT!"

As the two fell back into renewed arguing, Jamayang began to wonder how Hariti was doing.

OoOoOo

One of Azula's most useful abilities was being able to adjust how heavily she slept. She didn't naturally sleep light, per say, as a light sleeper would never get any sleep in the capital. Rather it was the ability to determine, before she went to bed, how lightly or heavily she slept. A useful survival skill when living in a city under siege by an opponent who could strike anywhere, and preferred hit and run attacks.

Tonight Azula had slept very light. While exhaustion and the rain had kept her for the night, she didn't trust Aunt Wu at all. As such she woke up to near inaudible sound of the front door of the house creaking open. She got up and moved to her own door, pushing it open as slowly and silently as she could. She crept over to the stairs, keeping an eye out, but not daring to light even the smallest fire. Finally Azula made it to the top of the stairs and peeked out, just barely able to hear the conversation.

"I was just passing by and thought I'd talk to you." The first speaker was male, with an Air Nomad accent.

Azula frowned. She knew she shouldn't have trusted Aunt Wu. A small fire formed in her hand, but she quickly clenched her fist to put it out. A confrontation now wouldn't do, she needed to know if this nomad was the only one, or if he had brought others.

"Now dearie it always nice to have visitors, but it really is getting late…" Aunt Wu voice was different. It had a sickeningly sweet tone that reminded her of the times Li and Lo had tried to be "grandmotherly". Azula didn't quite manage to suppress the shudder.

"Very well, I'll cut to the point then. Have you considered my offer?"

Azula slowly lowered her foot onto the first stair, and winced at the creaking, but no one else seemed to hear it.

"Now as I've said before, I'm sorry but I really can't make that decision. I'm just an old fortune teller. You'd have to talk to the village head."

Azula finally reached the bottom, and was able to briefly peak out from the stairway. The man was very clearly an Air Nomad, wearing the robes, staff and tattoos of a master. The man sighed, "But the village head listens to you. He believes your fortunes. Just tell him and he will."

Aunt Wu gasped. "But I couldn't do that. Not if it doesn't appear in the book."

"Look, the attacks are increasing. I know you've had to give more and more bad fortunes and tell people to avoid the forest. No one's been hurt yet but….If you just ally with us I can easily get rid of it for you."

Aunt Wu shifted uncomfortably "But those could be any number of misfortunes. People often get lost, or attacked by wild animals, or even falling tree branches. It's awfully dangerous after dark. Speaking of which, do you want to stay the night?"

The Air Nomad breathed deeply in annoyance. "I can fly over the forest. Look, just consider my offer. I can help you, I want to help you, but I need your cooperation." With that he turned and walked out the door, and as he did Azula noticed the background noise of rain hadn't been present since she woke up. That was good.

"Finally. I thought he'd never leave. Now maybe I can get some sleep." Aunt Wu's voice dropped to her usually cynical tone.

"Certainly, but first you can explain to me just what you're doing." Azula stepped out from the stairway.

"Princess Azula!" Aunt Wu gasped "What are you doing here?"

"Trying to figure out just why you were talking with an Air Nomad. Dearie." Azula smirked

"It was nothing. He comes by all the time. Now why don't you just go back to bed?"

"No, I think we'll be leaving. I don't want to stay in a house where I could be captured any second."

"NO!" Aunt Wu's voice turned desperate for a second. "I mean… it's dark out. You can't travel at this time of night."

Truth be told, Azula had never originally intended to leave. She was merely hoping to figure out the who and what of the conversation. Now, however, given Aunt Wu's defensive behavior and insistence that she stay….

Azula charged up the stairs, knocking on the door to Sokka's room "Wake up! We're leaving." She flung open the door to her room and began to yell at Katara.

"Huh, wha?"

"I said wake up. We're leaving." Slowly Katara began to get up.

Meanwhile Aunt Wu had finally made it up the stairs after her. "Now… just wait a moment…" Aunt Wu strained for breath.

Azula banged on Sokka's door once again. "If you don't get up now I'm going to get in there and get you up myself." The scrambling sounds from behind the door indicated that he had heard her. A second later the door opened and Sokka stared out, barely awake. "Was going on?"

"We are leaving." Azula said for the third time.

"Why?"

"Because Aunt Wu has been talking with Air Nomads."

The siblings stared at Aunt Wu. "He's been here for months now, it's not like I can just force him away and I didn't tell him you were here," The fortuneteller said.

Azula grabbed Katara's sleeve and began dragging her away. "If you go out there right now grave misfortune will befall you!" Aunt Wu screamed.

The teenagers stared at her. Sokka the grabbed Katara's other arm, and wordlessly helped Azula drag Katara towards the stairs.

OoOoOo

The noise what finally woken up Meng, who was still rubbing her eyes. "Aunt Wu? What happened?"

Aunt Wu's voice was once again its usual cynical self. "Nothing Meng."

"Did she leave? I never like that b-"

"We are really going to have to talk about where you learn language like that. But for now I need you to set some tea, our guests should be back soon."

"Awwww."

"Oh and don't bother with the fourth cup this time, unless you want some yourself."

OoOoOoOo

Sukara had apparently been woken up by all the commotion in the house, and was waiting for them as soon as they were out the door. Azula retied the money sack around her fin and they began to march out of the village.

"Guys?" Katara had been lagging behind, and nervously fiddled with her hands as they reached the village gate. "Are you sure this is a good idea. I mean what about-"

"You don't seriously believe that 'grave misfortune will befall you all' do you?" Katara's silence gave him the answer. Sokka sighed. "Come on, it was obvious she was just trying to keep us there."

"But-"

Azula cut her off. "She was talking with an Air Nomad, end of discussion."

"But-"

"Yes they didn't attack then," said Azula ,proving Aunt Wu wasn't the only person with the talent of prediction. "But there was only one, and even they would know taking me on alone is suicide. He could have left because she hid us, or she could have given him some indication we were here and he left to get reinforcements. Its. Not. Worth. The risk."

Katara lapsed back into silence.

They reached the village gate. While Azula had been too drenched to notice or care when the entered the village, she now was able to take in the wall surrounding the village. It was rather impressive, actually. While Earth Kingdom cities had walls, the villages rarely did. It was not the decorated wall of an estate, but the type of wall designed for defense. It rather reminder her of some of the ruins of early Fire Nation defensive fortifications…. Before it became clear how pointless basic walls were against an enemy that could fly.

Yet there was no enemy that would threaten this town. The wall seemed to be a defense against the encroachment of the forest. A way of saying "everything on this side is ours". The idea of the forest as an assaulting army became more pronounced as they passed by. Looking around, Azula could barely make out the trees, which seemed to be brushing up against the wall.

It was dark. It had been night when they had left Aunt Wu's, but the stars and moonlight had been able to light the path surprisingly well. But now that they had entered the forest, it had all changed. The trees lined the side of the road; not in the tame ordered fashion of the palace garden, but in a wild, untamed way; branches over the sides of the roads and roots breaking through the edges of the path. The thick branch cover excluded almost all light. During the day enough had gotten though that Azula hadn't really noticed (at least till the rain came, but then she had other things on her mind), but now…

Azula began to head to the side of the road. "What are you doing?" hissed Sokka. "There could be wild animals out there! Stay on the road."

"There are no dangerous-" Azula was stopped by the sound of a howl in the night. "There are no wild animals more dangerous than me." She bent down and picked up a fallen branch, lighting it on fire and creating a torch. "Now at least we can see."

"Right, because if the Air Nomads are looking for us and have your description using a torch instead of directly bending is totally going to throw them off."

Azula rolled her eyes and continued walking. With the added light she could now make out the body language and face of the siblings. Sokka had wrapped his arms around himself, and was nervously looking from side to side. Katara had huddled close to Sukara.

"Oh come on, you two aren't afraid, are you? That fortune was simply an intimidation tactic nothing is going-"

"DON'T SAY IT!" Sokka shouted.

"What are you babbling about now?"

"Don't say it. You're just tempting fate. "

"What 'it'? And since when do _you_ believe in fate?" Azula scoffed.

"Don't say nothing is going to happen." Sokka looked around nervously as if expecting something at any moment. "Trust me, this isn't some stupid made up fortune telling. It's a law of the universe. If you say nothing bad is going to happen, or that it can't get any worse, it always will."

"I thought you didn't think anything was going to happen."

Sokka threw his hands up into the air "And look where it got me. Instead of being in a nice, safe town I'm in a really _really_ creepy forest."

"Maybe we should just go back-" Katara began.

"Oh you two are being pathetic. _Nothing is going to happen_." Azula put a special emphasis on the words as Sokka cringed. "That's right, nothing is going to happen. You hear me? Nothing. Is going. To happen." Azula continued watching Sokka cringe further with each word.

They waited, and it almost seemed as if the entire forest waited with them. The various chirps, howls, and birdcalls stopped for a moment.

Nothing happened.

As the sounds of the forest resumed Azula smiled in triumph. "See I told you-"

That's when the crash came.

"AHA!" shouted Sokka. "That's why it didn't work, because I was sure it was. So it was the 'I told you' that triggered it-" He was cut off as the trees behind him were ripped apart to reveal the monster.

It was huge; easily twice the height of Bumi's pet, Flospy, and at least four times as intimidating. Its skin was black and white, rather like Sukara, though the markings were completely different. For the most part it resembled some sort of wolf/gorilla hybrid, though the extra two arms coming from it shoulders were like no animal Azula could name. The creature reared up, reaching the very tops of the trees.

The creature swiped at Sokka, who barely managed to dive for cover. It advanced upon him, or rather it tried to advance upon him, but was stopped by the equivalent of a half-ton bear trap on its right leg in the form of Sukara's teeth. The creature howled as it was sent toppling facedown. Meanwhile Azula began jumping from branch to branch, trying to get above it.

Sukara thrashed the leg around in its mouth, but did surprisingly little damage. The creature began to get up, planting its other three legs on the ground to give it stability. Before it could turn it's attention to mauling Sukara properly, Azula let loose a steady stream of blue flame at its body. The creature roared and turned its attention to the firebender. She smiled: it had made its fatal mistake. With Sukara still clamped to its leg there was no way it could reach her-

That notion was dispelled by a blast of white light coming from its mouth. Often times when people talking about bright light the term "night into day" is used. That term really wouldn't have been accurate, what it was was a twisted parody of daytime; all the brightness and harshness of the sun, with none of the comfort or warmth. Azula barely managed to jump off the tree branch. Then the creature turned its attention to Sukara. It proceeded to grab and lift her with its two smaller arms. The effect was bizarre, like a twig lifting a battleship. Azula would have sworn they should have snapped under the weight.

Sukara was thrown several feet away, crashing into a tree and giving a moan of pain. "Sukara!" Katara cried out, rushing to her side. The creature, in turn, had turned its attention back to Azula, and once again opened its mouth. Before it could fire, it was distracted by a boomerang to the head.

Sokka was actually somewhat surprised when the creature turned to face him. Choosing the guy who throws a boomerang over the living flamethrower seemed kind of odd. Maybe it was so stupid it couldn't remember anything and just attacked whoever went after it last. Or maybe giant monsters found boomerangs really, really painful, like a paper cut. Actually given that Azula's flame hadn't caught it one fire it fur was probably fireproof-

Had Sokka been less distracted with the conundrum of giant monsters targeting choices, he might have dodged the beam. Then again, he might not have. It really was very fast, Azula had only avoided it the first time with the advantage of gravity.

Regardless Sokka was struck by the beam, and seemed to disappear into thin air.

"SOKKA" Katara cried out. She looked around for some way to do _something_. With no large sources of water near her, she eventually settled on hurling a (rather large) rock. As the rock impacted the creature Katara saw just how small it was compared to the monster, but then something unexpected happened. The rock shattered on the creature's hide and it gave an almighty howl. It then looked around, not the aggressive, hunting look of before, but more like… confusion? Then, just as quickly as it appeared, it vanished.

"What the- SOKKA!" Katara cried, rushing over to the spot she had last seen him. "Sokka, SOKKA, SOKKAAAA!"

"Don't bother-" Azula began.

"HE IS N-"

"No, he isn't dead." Azula calmly cut her off. Surprised at Azula's calm assertion, as opposed to her own panicked denial, Katara actually managed to calm down. "Are you calm? Good. Then to start there's no remains. Any method of killing, from crushing via boulders, to blow off cliffs to even burning to ash leaves some remains. I suspect the creature in question was actually a spirit."

"A spirit?" Katara had heard legends but to actually see them…. She had never realized they were so terrifying.

"Correct. First the creature appeared and disappeared out of nowhere, mostly likely it traveled to and from the Spirit World. Secondly the beam of light it fired conforms to no bending or other natural phenomenon I can think of. Third is its strength, and finally…" Azula motioned Katara over to where the creature had last been standing. "What caused it to disappear," she finished, pointing at the pieces of stone.

"The stone?" Katara asked, picking up the largest piece. "Ugh this is heavy, how did I-?"

"Adrenalin, I've seen a woman who had no formal training snap a man's neck and break another's ribcage under its effects. Now look at the stone. Notice how when it was whole it would have been flat? And the various markings? This was clearly some sort of grave marker. "

"I just disturbed someone's GRAVE!" Katara shouted, horrified.

"Oh calm down. Look at the markings, given they're utterly unreadable the grave is probably ancient. Whomever it was won't have any relatives to go after us."

"But what about his spirit?"

"There are no such things as angry spirits."

Katara stared, crickets chirped, and somewhere in the background a frog croaked.

Azula sighed "What I meant to say was that there are no spirits of humans. The creatures of the spirit world are independent, not dead humans. There is no such thing as "angry ghosts" that inhabit the spirit realm. Talking to the dead is nothing but a story."

"So now what?"

"We…" Azula stopped. Analyzing the situation was easy, but she had no idea what to actually do. She really wished she'd paid more attention when Lu Ten had talked about the Spirit World.

"Aunt Wu!" Katara shouted.

"What?"

"She told us we'd come to misfortune, well maybe she can help!"

"Or maybe she'll have an ambush waiting for us."

"Oh really, and do you have a better suggestion?" Katara actually getting sarcastic managed to shock Azula into silence.

OoOoOo

The Journey back had been depressing and tense. Sukara had managed to get up, and limped painfully alongside Katara and Azula as they headed back to the village. It was still barely nightfall by the time they got back. Katara knocked on the door of Aunt Wu's house.

The door was almost immediately open. "Oh, I see. Com e in and tell me what happened."Aunt Wu said solemnly.

Both of them trudged inside and as they sat down Katara began to relate the story.

"Yes, I do know what attacked you. That was Hei Bai, the spirit of the forest," Aunt Wu answered. "You must find out what has made it so angry."

"Oh yes, let's just politely ask it. I have a better idea, we kill it," sniped Azula.

"How?" Katara snapped.

"It's the spirit of the forest right? Just burn the forest and we should kill it, or at least weaken it enough to fight it." Azula replied.

"Or you could do nothing to it except make Hei Bai angry." Aunt Wu warned.

"And we wouldn't want that."

"Look, burning the forest might endanger Sokka, and it would certainly endanger the village. Aunt Wu, do you have some way to talk to Hei Bai?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. You must travel to the Spirit World, and find out what has angered it."

"The Spirit World? but how can we, I mean only the Avatar…" Katara began, to which Aunt Wu laughed

"The Avatar may be the bridge between the Spirit World and this one but he is not the only person who can cross over. With proper preparation anyone can crossover." Azula replied.

"Ah yes, your Uncle, Fire Lord Iroh. After the failure of technology and men to hold off the Air Nomad advance, tried to turn to the spirits-"

"And look where that got him." Azula snapped back. "Besides, even as a Fire Lord it took him years to properly prepare. I doubt you could possibly do it."

Aunt Wu smiled and with a flourish produced a small bottle of water. Without waiting for the obvious questions she began narrating. "In the Northern Water Tribe there lies a great palace." Katara leaned forward eager to hear more. Azula, who had not only seen the palace but had an objective chance to compare it with various Fire Nation (and recently Earth Kingdom) palaces merely rolled her eyes.

"At the top of the palace lies a small pond. Otherwise known as the _spirit_ oasis. It is said to have many powers: raising the dead, controlling the tides, and even being the source of all waterbending. The penalty for removing even the tiniest drop is death, but some people are willing to risk it. To heal a love one, enchant their personal power, or even for simple riches."

Aunt Wu took a deep breath before continuing her tale. "A long time ago a man came to me, asking for me to predict how he might be able to acquire a vial without being caught. I scoffed and tried to explain that it was impossible; fortunes were not that precise. But he was insistent. So I did every fortune method I knew, and to my surprise each of them gave a step in the theft. As for my price, I had read that if he got greedy he would be caught, but he could take up to two vials, so I demanded one of them. Luckily for me, he was both smart enough to take my advice and honorable to keep his end."

Azula snorted with disbelief. "You don't honestly expect me to believe that load of boar-bull?"

Aunt Wu sighed. "It doesn't matter what you believe, because you aren't the one going into the spirit world."

"WHAT?! And just why not?" Azula demanded.

"Because you can't. When you gave your explanation you were only half- right. People can enter the Spirit World, but it isn't true that just 'anyone' can."

"I am not just 'anyone'. I am Princess Azula. Did you forget that the blood of Fire Lord Iroh flows in my very veins?"

"No I did not. But spiritual awareness, like bending, is partially hereditary and partially a matter of… spirit. Your blood may be spiritually aware, but you are not. You attempt to calculate every problem, rather than hearing your emotions. You try to control the world, rather than accepting it. You hate the idea of the spirit, of something you cannot understand. Katara, it is you who will have to do this, alone."

"Me?" Katara hesitated at the idea of facing the monster alone, in another world clearly terrified her. Then she hardened herself, remembering Sokka still needed to be saved. "What do I need to do?"

Aunt Wu handed her the water. "Just south of here is a statue of Hei Bai. There, the connection between the worlds is very weak. Once you get there, drink the water and meditate under the statue. You should be able to crossover. Once you get on the other side you are on your own."

"Fine let's get to the stupid statue." Azula growled.

"No, she needs to do this alone."

"I wasn't going to try to meditate with her you old hag. Just make sure she wasn't eaten while trying your stupid meditation."

"And I say you still can't go. The meditation to the spirit world is an extremely difficult process for any normal human. You could distract her. I only have one vial and don't know if a single drink is good for a second try."

"So you want to split us completely up-?"

"Azula," Katara cut her off. "Please? I can do this, just let me try."

Azula remained silent for a second, before giving a defeated sigh. "Fine, go and use your 'magic water', but don't come crying to me when you get eaten because you were too busy saying 'oooom'".

"Thank you, both of you. I'll be back soon I promise!" Katara yelled as she headed out, clutching the vial so tight it was in danger of bursting.

As Katara headed out Azula tried to calm her nerves and look on the bright side, at least if she died Azula wouldn't have to worry about how to ditch them…..

OoOoO

**Author's Note**- So that chapter ended up much longer than expected (when I started I was worried about having enough material). My main problem was I originally had some of the Jamayang/Zhao scenes on the last chapter, but given it was only one I felt it sort of broke the narrative flow.

I liked the idea of Katara being older than Azula, the idea that the one who take command is actually the youngest amususes me.

As to chapter updates…. I've written 9 and am having it checked, chapter ten may be awhile. My original idea isn't working out so I'm having to rework the plotline. So I'm not going to make my chapter ten by new year's.. oh well.

And, as always, a great thanks to my Beta-reader, avocadolove, and happy holidays to everyone.

**Preview:** Katara enters the spirit world, while Jamayang, Zhao and Hama are fast approaching. As she enters the spirit world the task of freeing Sokka may be far more difficult that she expected, but with some help from an unexpected source she just may be able to do it. Next time on **Avatar: The Last Firebender**- **The Blue Spirit**


	9. Winter Solstice The Blue Spirit

**Avatar: The Last Firebender**

**Book 1, Episode 9**

**The Winter Solstice Part II: The Blue spirit**

**OoOoOo**

Katara held the small vial up to the light. It was actually somewhat surprising she could do this, given the tree cover. The braches seemed to stop right around the statue, leaving a small area where the moon and the stars could shine down. With one hand trembling, she moved to uncork the vial.

Drinking it was somewhat surprising, it tasted like….water. Somehow she had expected something grander, a surge of energy or an indescribable taste, but it just tasted like… water. Realizing she was wasting valuable time, she sat down and closed her eyes, trying to remember what her Gran Gran had taught her of waterbender meditation.

_Focus on the heart beat. Focus on the heart beat as the blood flows through you. Calm down. Breathe deeply, and focus on the heart beat. Will it to slow down._ Slowly, Katara was able to feel her heartbeat, fast at first. All the excitement had it beating like an Earth Kingdom drum. Then, slowly, agonizingly slowly, it began to slow down. Half as fast, a fourth as fast. It began to sink with her breath, far slower than any non-waterbender could hope to achieve.

The passage to the spirit world was noticeable. Katara wasn't sure exactly how to describe it. Like wind rushing through after opening a door, or the change from water to air. Opening her eyes she took her first look into the Spirit World. It was like the oasis water, anti-climatic. It looked exactly like the forest. Katara began to panic, worrying it hadn't worked. It was then that she realized _her heart wasn't beating._

This didn't help the matter. Her grandmother had warned her that jumping out of heartbeat meditation instantly could cause your heart to stop… of course at that age she had also warned her that if she didn't eat all her sea prunes evil spirits would take her away. Then again, that too didn't see quite so unlikely now.

Reason quickly reasserted itself thanks to two separate, but equally important thoughts

1)She was acting like Sokka

2)If her heart wasn't beating, how was she moving?

Katara began to assess the situation. She noticed that the various chirps, growls, howls and other background noises for the forest had all but disappeared. She walked around, looking for some way to figure out if the Spirit World simply looked like the real one, or if her meditation hadn't worked, and just what was going on.

She got her answer when she turned around to look back at the statue. She gave a gasp of surprise as she saw her own body, slumped on the ground. Reaching for it, her hand passed right through. Yet as it did she felt a subtle tug. She instantly backed away; if she returned now, she'd never be able to get back.

It wasn't cold in the Spirit World, wasn't warm either, just…. Nothing. Nevertheless Katara wrapped her arms around herself as she set out to find Sokka… and Hei Bai.

OoOoO

"Are we there yet?" Zhao asked.

"We won't arrive till dawn, Admiral Zhao." Jamayang's response was noticeably absent of his usual Hmmm.

Zhao grumble "Ow, why did you poke me woman?" he turned to face Hama.

"I was checking your arms." Hama answered.

"What for? It's not like you have water."

Hama rolled her eyes. "I have no less than six waterskins on me at all times."

Zhao grumbled. "Then why aren't you healing me?"

"Why aren't I healing the great Admiral Zhao every moment of the day? Because it would be useless. Healing works by redirecting the Chi pathways. It takes time for them to be redirected, and once redirected they will slide back, but that takes time as well. Healing you now would simply be busy work. As long as I apply every few hours and once in the morning and night, you should be fine."

"Well we're going to be here until morning."

"Then I'll do it now."

Jamayang gripped the reins of the Sky Bison, and began mentally going over his prayers.

OoOoOo

The walk through the Spirit World was even creepier than the earlier walk through the forest. There weren't any unknown sounds noises, but somehow the oppressive silence was worse. The earlier walk had been almost completely dark, with only Azula's torch for light, and everything beyond it was utterly invisible. Here Katara could see crystal clear, her vision only blocked by the trees. This was comforting, until she realized there was no visible source of light, and even though she could see, it was still just as dark as before. The worst part was she could not shake the feeling that something was following her. She could swear she heard a rustle of leaves, or the sound of footsteps, or catch the sight of something moving…

Pressing on and hoping it was her imagination, she headed towards the spot they had fought the spirit. If it crossed the worlds there, then perhaps there was some sign of where it went. When she arrived at the road there was no sign of the spirit, but there was something else. The gravestone lay shattered on the road, surrounded by a red glow. Coming out from it were what looked like pieces of broken red string.

Katara reached for them and was surprised by how… substantive they were. When she had tried to touch them her hand had passed right through. The trees were "real" but the string…. It was like she was fog, and they were solid. It was as if they were more solid than her. Katara tried to pick it up, and could barely move. It wasn't that they were heavy, just immobile.

"What are these things?" She asked as it began to crumble into bits in her hand. Regardless, this wasn't helping her find Sokka. She once again set out into the forest.

OoOoOo

Azula walked to one side of the gate. Azula looked out towards the forest. Azula walked back to the other side of the gate.

This pattern had been going on for…. Well she wasn't sure, but for far too long. She hated this, hated waiting, hated being here, hated so _helpless._ Doing absolutely nothing while all the action was going on, somewhere else.

Sukara pawed the ground and growled and Azula felt a moment of kinship. "You too huh? Funny isn't it? You and me are the only decent fighters, and we're both stuck here."

OoOoOo

Katara had been walking around forever, but still hadn't found anything. Not too surprising, it was a big forest.

"Hello? Hei Bai? Mr. Forest Spirit? I was wondering if you could tell me why you're angry, and maybe I could help?" She felt stupid even as she was saying it, but she was running out of ideas.

'Thunk'. The noise was small, but given the silence of the forest it stood out. Katara whipped around, looking for the source, it had come from the tree branches but she could see anything there. "Is there anyone out there?" she called.

A second thunk came, further away. Katara ran to it. Years of living on the frozen ice had taught her that strange noises were usually something to run away from, but it wasn't like she had any other ideas.

The noises were barely audible, and several times Katara wondered if it was her imagination playing tricks on her. Some sort of false hope. Still, she followed them and was eventually lead to a small hill. On the side of the hill was another gravestone. This one was much more impressive. Where the other had had a small red glow around its edge, this one's bathed the surrounding area in red light. Again several red strings came out of it. Though given how thick they looked, "rope" would have been a more appropriate metaphor.

"What are you?" Katara asked, moving forward. She had had no idea graves looked like this in the Spirit World. Slowly she leaned forward to get a closer look. Examination of the stone was put on hold thanks to the intrusion of i2 tons of angry forest spirit.

Hei Bai melted from nowhere in between the trees, giving a roar of rage. Katara gasped and took a step back, her boot heel catching on a loose stone. She staggered, pinwheeling her arms, but fell down on her butt.

While Hei Bai's markings and coloration were the same in the Spirit World as in the material world, there was one noticeable difference. The red "rope" was all around it, each tread seeming to pierce into its very skin. It looked incredibly painful. Any further thought on that subject stopped it advanced towards her. She quickly scooted back as fast as she could before turning around and getting up to run.

As it began to chase her around Katara found herself somewhat grateful for the ordeal with Flopsy. Sure Flopsy was smaller, and hadn't actually been trying to kill her, and didn't have a mouth beam, but the basic idea was the same. As is unleashed another swipe Katara dodge around a tree. Rather than simply tearing through the tree, it went sort of made sense, forest spirit and all that… then again when it had been in the material world it had ripped through them just fine.

Regardless, Katara weaved between two large trunks, then doubled back as the spirit was forced around. Running towards the hill, Katara headed back to the gravestone. Desecrating another grave wasn't what she wanted, but she wanted to get caught even less. Katara reached for the stone with both hands and could barely pick it up. Maybe it was the lack of adrenalin… though she thought she was just as frightened as she had been the first time. Maybe it was the Spirit World. Maybe it was the stone. Regardless, she could barely lift.

Hei Bai had finally got around the trees, and was now charging forward. She desperately tried to lift the stone higher, maybe using it as a shield would work just as well-

As Hei Bai was about to bear down on her, a brown figure jumped down from the trees. It struck he Bai with either a spear or staff-- from the roar she guessed it was a spear. Hei Bai charged forward and swiped at the figure, who nimbly rolled out of the way. The next few seconds Katara watched in amazement as the figure went toe-to-toe with Hei Bai. Dodging all four of its arms and occasionally attacking back with the spear.

"QUICKLY! Destroy the stone!" The figure shouted. The voice wasn't harsh, but did carry the weight of someone used to being obeyed.

Katara snapped out of the amazed trance. "How?"

"How did you do it last time?"

"I don't know, I just got so angry I threw it."

"Of course…" The figure murmured as it dodged one of Hei Bai's beams. "Can you pick it up?"

Katara once again grabbed the stone and lifted it with all her might. Slowly the stone began to lift off the ground. She could barely hold it a few inches before it felt life her arms were going to drop off.

"Now! Drop it!" He ordered.

Letting go of the stone was a relief. The stone fell down the hill, shattering into several pieces as it hit the ground. When it shattered several of the string protruding from it snapped, and Hei Bai gave a roar of pain before seeming to claw at itself. Katara found herself grabbed by her rescuer . Who picked her up, threw her over its shoulder and began running away.

As she was being dragged away, Katara was able to get a better look at the figure. It was wearing a brown robe. The design didn't particularly resemble anything Katara had seen. It was a one piece, with sleeves the extended over the hands and a hood covering the head. Given way she was being helped she still couldn't make out the face.

The spear was… crude, there was no other world. Compared to the spears in Azula's armory her father's spear could be argued to be crude. (Katara would have disagreed - they were well made and good at their purpose, even without much metal)This spear, however, looked as if someone had simply taken a pole, and tied a chipped piece of rock at the end.

"There, I think we're far enough away." It declared, setting her down. Katara quickly looked up to get a better look at the face. When she saw it she gave a yell and began backing away, it was an _Oni_. According to the stories they kidnapped either kids or maidens. Katara didn't really consider herself a _maiden_ yet, but she certainly wasn't a kid.

"What?" the figure asked as Katara backed away. It turned to her, the black eyes staring while the ever present grin remained just as wide as ever. "Oh! The mask! Calm down, it's just a mask," said the figure lifting one of its sleeves and knocking on the mask, revealing it to be wood. "I'm human, see?" He said, showing the palms of its hands out from under the sleeves of its robe. The hands were those of a full grown adult, not worn by age, but not young either. By the voice and hands Katara would guess he was about her father's age.

"Oh" said Katara, feeling both relieved and a little silly. "Could you, um, remove it?"

The figure turned around. "Sorry. I'd rather not reveal my face here."

"Why not?"

The man hesitated. "Let's just say I have some enemies in the spirit world, enemies I would rather not see my face. Now come, we don't have much time." The figure began to walk off.

Katara rushed to catch up. "Hold on, time for what? What's going on? Who are you?"

The man laughed. "One question at a time. My name is of no importance, you can call me…. The Blue Spirit. As for what's going on, we're freeing Hei Bai."

"Freeing Hei Bai? You mean this isn't about him being angry?"

"Angry? No, Hei Bai is not angry." The Blue Spirit paused, as if to consider the last statement and gave a dark laugh. "Well actually I suppose he is, but his anger is not the reason for the attacks. Nor is it even a problem. The real reason is those." He pointed at the gravestone they had just arrived at.

"The gravestones?"

The Blue Spirit turned to her, and even though his face was hidden by the mask, Katara swore he gave the impression of blinking in surprise. "Gravestones? Is that what you thought they were?"

"Um, well…." Now that she had time to think about it, after what she'd seen that didn't really make much sense. "What are they?"

"An abomination. The stones, like many shrines and temples, serves as anchors between the worlds. However, they have been modified to tie themselves to Hei Bai, allowing their creator to control the forest spirit."

Katara stood there, looking at the stone. "So… now what?"

"Now what?" The man laughed "You destroy it, of course. Take out enough and we should be able to free the forest spirit."

"Me? Couldn't you? I mean you're a lot stronger-"

He shook his head sadly. "If I could break them, they would have been long broken, and Hei Bai would have never been enslaved. Alas I cannot."

"Why?'

"The stones were designed as a means to entrap spirits. They are all but invulnerable to spirits. You are not a spirit, merely a visitor, and are not affected by that aspect. However, when I came to the spirit world I choose a much more…. permanent method."

Katara gasped, "You mean you're a ghost?"

He stopped, considering this. "I suppose, depending on your definition, I could be argued to be. I can't return…. Still, it would be a mistake to confuse the realm of the spirits with the realm of the dead." The figure added, echoing what Azula had said.

"So how did you-"

"Both the how, and why of me coming to the spirit world is a long and fascinating tale, but right now I really need you to destroy the stone before Hei Bai finds us." Katara walked over to the stone, once again struggling to lift it, and dropping it with a satisfying shatter. A piercing roar was heard throughout the forest."

"Come. Onto the next."

They had barely walked out of the clearing before another roar, this time much louder, leting them know Hei Bai had found them. Before Katara knew what was happening The Blue Spirit had picked her up again and fallen into a dead run. From her uncomfortable viewpoint over his shoulder, she was treated to a full view of a furious Hei Bai bearing down on them.

Katara hadn't thought the beast could ever get more terrifying than the first encounter, she was wrong. The red threads swarmed around it, some twisting and straining to hold on, while others had snapped and were merely being dragged. Other spots looked as if they had once held a thread, but now seemed to hold a wound.

There was no blood. Instead there pain, shown as a malignant light, a color that resembled yellow, or perhaps red, yet with a hint of green . At the same time was also like none of them. The idea of pain as a solid, visible thing was bizarre, but Katara found that she wasn't particularly surprised. She had grown somewhat used to the Spirit World's odd combination of bizarre, familiar masquerading as bizarre, and bizarre masquerading as familiar.

A look of complete madness and pain tore across the Hei Bai's, and while it's four larger limbs were all pawing the ground as hard as possible, the two smaller ones were tearing at the threads surrounding it.

Just as the Hei Bai was almost upon them, one of the smaller arms succeed, as the thread ripped out more of the visible pain shown from the wound. Hei Bai gave another massive howl, distracted long enough for the fleet footed Blue Spirit to gain ground.

After what seemed like forever, Katara found herself unceremoniously dropped on the ground. "Quickly, destroy this last one and Hei Bai should be freed." He said before running off.

Katara looked around a second to find the stone and quickly rushed to it. Gripping it with both hands she began to pull it out of the ground with all her might--

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" The Blue Spirit's shout drew Katara eyes back up. Rather than chasing after the Blue Spirit, Hei Bai had turned to follow Katara. Everything seemed to move in slow motion. Hei Bai's charge, the desperate spear throw, it bouncing off Hei Bai's skin, and finally the Blue Spirits Big No. Which despite being long and overdrawn still somehow managed to avoid sounding completely silly. Katara was saved by a last minute bit of survival instinct causing her to duck.

THUNK!

The sound rang through the clearing.

Opening her eyes, Katara saw the Hei Bai had hit the stone, stunning itself and knocking the stone loose. Had she been of a more inquisitive frame of mind, she might have wondered why the stone didn't crack from the impact, perhaps it was its spiritually resistant nature. Similarly she might have wondered why Hei Bai didn't dodge around it. Perhaps it was in too much pain to think strait, or perhaps, having wrested some control, it purposely hit it head on. Luckily for all involved (except Hei Bai's controller), Katara was not her brother, and instead simply picked up the stone and dropped it.

A final roar, loader than any before, tore through the forest. Several of the threads snapped instantly, and Hei Bai became an inwardly directed maelstrom. Its six arms flew around, tearing, scratching and attacking any remaining thread, while its mouth alternated between biting and blasting. Finally after what seemed like an eternity, Hei Bai subsided. Its body was covered in what Katara would later describe as "the color of pain". Giving an exhausted whine, it fell to the ground transforming into a creature Katara would later be able to identify as a bear.

Slowly the bear spirit rose, limping over to Katara it gave her a quick lick. Then, its strength recovering, it ran over to the Blue Spirit, bounding onto him and pinning him to the ground, it proceeded to deliver a vicious mask licking Katara heard the Blue Spirit laugh, and for the first time his voice actually sounded happy. "Okay, Okay, it's good to see you again too…." His voice became sad, and his shoulders hunched. "I'm sorry for what happened."

Hei Bai, gave a dismissive growl, as if to say, "It's not your fault." before running off into the forest.

"Come then, it is almost dawn." The Blue Spirit ordered, once again changing back to a commanding tone.

"But what about Sokka, and what if it happens again?" Katara protested.

The Blue spirit laughed again. "Sokka will be returned by the time you make it back to the village. As for it happening again… I don't think we have to worry about that."

OoOoOO

Hariti was currently panicking. The night had gone from bad, to worse, to full blown disaster. Aunt Wu had refused yet again he had ordered Hei Bai to do more than simply scare travelers. Not hurt them, of course, just abduct one. They would be fine, and he could "rescue" them as soon as Aunt Wu saw reason.

The battle had gone badly. His control wasn't fine enough to see what Hei Bai saw exactly, but he could tell that it was taking far too long. These travelers were obviously far more skilled that he had expected. Still, Hei Bai had abducted one of them. Then it had all really started to go wrong. One of the controller stones had been smashed. He had managed to keep Hei Bai under control, but it would have been weeks to remake the stone, and discovery was a serious risk.

The air bison droppings had really hit the airbending staff when the _second_ stone had broken. Holding the keystone, he could feel the feedback as it broke. He nearly panicked as Hei Bai was unable to find the travelers. One of the spirit's most useful abilities had been its ability to sense any and all travelers in the forest. Luckily Jamayang's lessons had prevailed and he had realized the beast was trying to hide something. It took all his control, but he was able to wrest the knowledge from its mind. The attack had come _from the spirit world_. Obviously some other powerful spirit had shown up, or perhaps someone had found a way into it,. Regardless, he forced Hei Bai after them.

When the third stone shattered, he was barely to hold on as the waves of pain fed through the connection. He almost lost control, but he desperately held on, forcing the beast onward. When the final stone shattered the key stone exploded, sending shrapnel everywhere. Hariti was cut in several places, and his hands were bloody, but all the pain was ignored in his panicked rush. Ignoring the priceless tomes, the arcane components and precious mementoes, he grabbed his staff and leapt out of the tree house that had served as his home for the last year or so.

As he opened his glider, he found himself falling to the ground. Desperately he attempted to Air bend harder, getting out of the forest before the spirit could take its revenge. When he landed on the ground he remembered two things

The forest had become quieter than he had ever heard

You can't bend in the spirit world

OoOoOoO

Azula kicked the dirt. She could feel dawn approaching, and the idiots still hadn't returned. She needed to get out of here, even if Aunt Wu was telling the truth, the Air Nomad was still likely to come back. Azula sighed, she'd give them until dawn, and then she was going in there herself. Once she confirmed what happened to them, she could get out of here.

Sukara got up and began rushing to the edge of the forest. "Azula!" Katara waved, emerging from the forest edge. "I did it! I freed Hei Bai!"

"Freed?"

"Oh, right. You see Hei Bai was actually being controlled, that's why he attacked us. But with the help of the Blue Spirit- Wait, where's Sokka?" Katara asked.

"I don't know, I thought you were supposed to get him."

"Oh…" Katara's disappointment was obvious. "But he was supposed to-" Both Azula and her gave a gasp of surprise as several springs of bamboo sprouted from the ground, and out walked a very confused looking Sokka. "Sokka!" Katara shouted as she ran up to hug him.

"Ah…. what just happened?"

Azula began to answer, but her mouth hung open as she tried to think of what to say. Finally she threw up her hands, and gave a dismissive sigh. "Forget it. Just ask Katara."

While Sokka turned to Katara, Azula faced Aunt Wu, who had just come out of her house. "So…. Come to brag?"

Aunt Wu shrugged. "Why should I? This was as much a vindication of what you said as it was of fortune telling. Once that girl stepped into the Spirit World, she was making her own destiny. No fortune telling her she would or wouldn't win."

Azula gave a small smile. "So then why are you here? I hope you don't expect any pay."

Aunt Wu laughed. "Please. I don't need to be a fortune-teller to tell me that you're not paying for fortune telling, and threatening to tell the Air Nomads unless you bribed me would be stupid beyond belief. As far as I'm concerned you never came to this village. However…. I do happen to have a load of junk I wanted to throw away. Tents, a few food stuffs… I had always intended to go camping, but I've decided at my age that I really must face facts…."

OoOoOo

Hariti ran through the forest, hunted by Hei Bai. It was not the crazed hunt he himself had forced Hei Bai into. Rather this was the hunt of a real predator. Hei Bai was methodically chasing him, slowly but surely tiring him out. Intellectually the Air Nomad knew that it was only a spiritual exhaustion, and theoretically he could force himself on, but he was so tired. He began to slow down. Out of the tree cover came Hei Bai. It was no longer running, merely walking slowly, clearly enjoying his terror. Hatiri tried to run again, but tripped on a nearby root. He turned around to see Hei Bai still steadily advancing, while he desperately crawled away.

Just as Hei Bai was almost on him he felt an unbelievably painful tug and found himself rising into the air! With a start he realized someone had thrown a rope around him. Looking up he saw an Air Bison. He sighed with relief, it was a miracle.

Zhao grunted, pulling up the rope with all his strength. Two yells pierced the air. The first was a terrified yell from Air Nomad that had appeared on the rope once Jamayang had set it down. The second was a roar the reminded Zhao of a full grown moose lion.

"Hama! Take the reins!" Jamayang ordered. He leapt to the back of the Bison and pulled out a small scroll from the folds of his robe. Quickly he began chanting something Zhao couldn't identify. Zhao's attention was drawn back to the ground by an unearthly light that seemed to come from the forest itself. It was aimed at the Air Nomad on the rope, but seemed to curve around, hitting Jamayang's scroll. The Air Bison gave a cry of distress, and Zhao was nearly thrown overboard as it rocked.

"Calm girl, it's over. We're too high up now, callmmmm." Jamayang began petting it. Meanwhile, Zhao finally pulled the Air Nomad all the way up.

Hariti looked around. He had known Jamayang would be here, only he could have grabbed him from the Spirit World (It is much easier than traveling to the Spirit World from the material, but still no mean feat), and stopped Hei Bai's attack. The other two were more surprising; one of them looked to be Hama which was odd, but the other was some sort of Fire Nation man with the largest sideburns Haiti had ever seen. Obviously he had been gone too long, and would have to catch up.

Hariti noticed both the Fire Nation man and Hama were staring at Jamayang. Looking over to him he saw he was shaking and- it was then that he noticed the expression on Jamayang's face. It was fury, Jamayang's entire body was shaking with it, almost as if, after being calm for so long, it didn't know how to handle the anger. "Jamayang, wait I can explain-" Hariti found his breath cut off.

"EX**PL**Ai_n_?!" Jamayang voice had gone unnatural, arbitrarily rising and falling in tone, pitch, and volume. "_EX_**p**_L_**AI**N?! I _SAW_ the Southern Road, **NO ONE** was on it. _SOME_THiNG was terrifying them. And when I went to find you I SAW the broken keystone." Jamayang took a deep breath, and exploded again. "HOW DaRE yOU? HoW dARE You?! Use MY **TEACH**INGS and **MY** _KNOWLEDGE_ to TerrIFY people TO to…"

"Jamayang." Hama put her hand on his shoulder. "Calm down."

Jamayang looked at her with fury for a second, then took a deep breath and continued. "You will be returned to the Southern Air Temple." His tone was not its usual harmonics, but neither was it the cacophony of before. "I am recommending you have your staff snapped for you actions here."

"What? But I-" Hariti again found his breath die in his mouth.

"Be quiet. You have no idea how sorely tempted I was to leave you for the spirit. Now then… let's head back." Jamayang snapped the reigns.

Behind him Zhao gave a little smile, this little excursion had been most _informative_.

OoOoO

Aunt Wu sat at her table, calmly drinking tea. Meng approached her cautiously.

"Aunt Wu?"

"Yes?"

"Um…I have question…" Meng's voice trailed off.

"Then go ahead a say it." Aunt said calmly.

"Well, you told me there would only be two coming back, and you were looking up Hei Bai a few days ago… did you know?"

Aunt Wu laughed. "Yes Meng. I knew it was Hei Bai, and I even knew it was Hariti who was behind it."

"The why didn't you tell them?"

Aunt Wu smiled. "Meng, one of the most important lessons of being a fortune teller is that the best way to predict a future is to make it yourself. While I knew he was controlling Hei Bai, I didn't know how. I needed someone who could travel to the spirit world."

"But why didn't you ask for help before? Katara was nice, I liked her."

"Yes, but what about her friend?"At this Meng made a rather nasty face. "Katara follows Azula, and if Azula had wanted to leave I'm not sure what she would have chosen. However, if her brother was at stake…."

OoOoO

It was midday by the time they got back. After instructing the other Air Nomads to guard Hariti Jamayang had simply looked himself in his room.

When Hama knocked on the door, there wasn't an answer. "Jamayang? I know you're in there!" Again there was no response. Hama was not the head of her village for nothing. As far as she was concerned words like "privacy" didn't apply to anyone who was in diapers when she was already married. Taking out one of her water skins, she began to seep water under the door. She then directed it upward till she felt the slight resistance that indicated something was in the way and slowly wrapped the water around the lever. She then froze it with a wave of her hand. Finally she gave a jerk, turning the lever and opening the door.

Stepping inside, Hama saw Jamayang with his head on his desk, the very picture of depression. Hama sat down on the seat opposite the desk, and waited.

Finally Jamayang spoke up. "Why do you still trust me?"

"Mmm? Why wouldn't I?"

Jamayang sighed. "Do you know what Hariti was doing?"

"The actual mechanics? No. But I think I have some idea. He was using the forest spirit to terrorize the people? Right? Then he was going to "stop" the monster when they agree to join up."

Jamayang threw his arms in his arms "THEN HOW CAN YOU-"

Hama cut him off. "I know he got the idea from what happened at my village. But you and I know they were completely different."

"But how do you know I wasn't-"

"Were you?"

"No!"

"Good enough for me."

"But-"

Hama sighed "Fine, you want some reasons? Let me give you three. First, from what I heard him say after you locked yourself up; he's only been scaring people and taking them to the Spirit World, not having them cut into pieces. The attacks in my village were too violent. Even if you were trying to terrorize us with a spirit, you wouldn't have been that violent."

"Secondly, you helped without asking for anything in return. It was months later before I went to the Air Temple on my own to talk about real diplomatic links. When you came we hadn't do anything to deserve help from you. Finally," Hama smiled and leaned forward. "If you had been down there controlling the spirit you would have remembered to bring something warmer than an Air Nomad robe when you came to help us."

"Hmmmmmm." Jamayang smiled with embarrassment. "I suppose…" he sighed. "Still to know my legacy will be so tainted-" Jamayang found himself slapped with a hand of water.

"Humph, talking about your legacy to someone twice your age. You've still got time. Make history remember this as Hariti's failure, not yours."

"The teacher and student are linked, had I focused more on a moral use of my knowledge, rather than the knowledge itself…. Still, thank you, may I ask one last favor?"

"What?"

"Could you please try to work with Admiral Zhao?"

Hama crossed her arms "Have you seen the man? He's a thug."

"He from a different culture…" Jamayang offered.

"Then his culture is worse than rotten fish. Besides his men are actually respectful. So don't try to blame this on culture, or military or something like that."

Jamayang sighed. "He's the admiral, and one of the few people to throw in his lot with the new Fire Lord. His men followed him, and that's not to be discounted. His fleet would be a huge problem if it turned to piracy…"

Hama gave another humph "Politics, still I suppose as the head of my village I know something of that. I'll make an effort, as long as you'll do me a favor."

Jamayang raised his eyebrows. "What?"

"Tell me the real reason you wanted a Waterbender. Your letter said "waterbending healer", not simply "healer". You wanted someone who could both heal and fight… why?"

"The Princess acquired a traveling companion in the South Pole…"

"A waterbender? If you don't think you and Zhao can take them, they must be powerful…"

"You have no idea. She created a wave that carried herself, the princess, at least one other person and a large part of the wreckage of the princess' ship all the way to shore."

"How far out were they?"

"By my estimates? Somewhere between a half and fourth of a mile."

Hama nodded "And you wanted someone to counter them?"

"Hmmmmm. Actually no, I was hoping one of your students could convince her that her best bet was to learn from you, actually."

"Are you crazy? I know you're idealistic, but people don't just change their views. Someone that dangerous, and besides they're probably already a master-"

"Given she's fourteen? I highly doubt that. Do you remember what you thought of Air Nomads at fourteen?"

Hama crossed her arms "…. Fine, I'll try. Just remember that the Water Tribes aren't as 'buddy, buddy' as the Air Nomad temples."

"Hmmmm. I'd hardly call the Air Nomad temples 'buddy, buddy'."

"You ever have one temple try to exterminate the other?" Hama's response stopped Jamayang cold.

**Afterwards**: Katara's meditation was semi-based on the real life. The heart beat concentration seemed like the appropriate thing for a waterbender. (Firebenders stare at a flame, Airbenders focus on breath). The lowering of the heartbeat may seem extreme, but given in real life people can lower their heartbeat to amazingly low amounts and Katara's a waterbender.

The "i2 ton" isn't a typo, spirits are weighed in imaginary numbers (duh).

Technically speaking, anyone who's a virgin is a maiden, however when people talk about maidens they usually refer to people who are virgins but about to get married/meat the prince etc. So Katara is a maiden, in the technical sense of the world. But doesn't consider herself a _maiden_ in the story/cultural sense (she may be wrong in this, but that's another debate entirely).

I felt a bit bad about having Hariti live, as it felt a bit like "wimping out" on the nastier aspects of the story, but I really couldn't Justify Jamayang leaving him. No matter how tempted, it would have gone against everything he believed in. Also it allowed more development with Hama's background.

And finally Aunt Wu proves Azula isn't the only one who knows how to manipulate.

Thanks again to everyone who reviewed and my Betareader Avocadolove.


	10. The Waterbending Scroll

First, sorry for this chapter taking so long, I had to rewrite the original plot. Updates are probably going to slow down overall in the next few months, but hopefully they won't be an entire month.

Second, I love criticism, and welcome it, feel free to give me negative feedback on my story. But what I really, really like ways to make it better. Telling me "you have grammar errors" isn't a bad thing… but it's telling me there's a needle in the haystack. I've already checked for them, and if their still there I'm not finding them. On the other hand, telling me I'm mixing up "meant" and "met" and "whether" and "weather" (hat tip "Vanilla Cream Cake") is a huge help.

Finally, from this chapter to the end of season 1 (and possibly beyond) I will be including a brief section from in-world texts before the main chapter. I'm doing this for three reasons

1)To provide background information which would feel awkward to infodump in the middle of the text

2)To provide a sense of a real "world" with things going on before and after the story.

3)One of my guiding principles in this fic has been that everyone has their own bias. Everyone sees the world through their own lens. However, I occasionally need to put objective stuff about the world without bias. This allows me to do so without compromising that principle.

4)To drive you all insane with hints of things to come without enough detail to actually tell you anything useful.

All of this information is skipable and the story can be enjoyed without it, but it will fill in some of the background details not addressed "in story".

**A Brief History of the Rise and Fall of the Air Empire- by J. Zhang, 1760**

Author's Foreword

_History is a set of lies we can all agree on_- Professor Yve, Omashu Historical institution.

It should come as no surprise that the period know as "The Air Empire" (1125-1225) is one of the most written about in all of history. It sounds like something out of a story book: A corrupt Avatar, a 100 year empire destroyed in little under a year, battles, betrayals, revelations. All of this comes together to make it appear in stories, books and plays over and over again. It is a testament to the strength of the story, that, "ReBirth of the Fire Nation!" one of the first major works in the new "film" medium is focused on this period.

The problem is that many of these works are essentially lies. With the rise in nationalism more and more countries have turned to history as a source of propaganda. They see history not as something to teach children the facts, but to teach children _their_ facts. "ReBirth of the Fire Nation" for instance, is one of the most disgustingly inaccurate and blatant pieces of propaganda ever seen. Not only does it portray the Air Nomads as rapists and thugs, but even marginalizes the role of any non-fire Nation allies. The people of the Earth Kingdom are portrayed as little more than ignorant savages, completely editing out the roles of Bumi and Toph. It reduces Katara little more than a healer, meekly following after the Fire Nation protagonists, and as with many other Fire Nation works, completely edits outs the role of Sokka. Perhaps most annoying is it's reduction of Azula to a helpless damsel in distress. It is a sad state of affairs that the Fire Nation actually seems to have regressed in terms of gender equality.

Even "high class" works such as the classic play "The divided earth" or purely entertainment oriented such the wonderfully comedic "The Avatar's Journey" still sacrifice reality for the sake of the story. I find this an incredibly sad state of affairs, the events surrounding the formation and destruction of the "the Air Empire" are fascinating and could make a perfectly viable story without changing a thing. A story far more complex and intriguing than the simple one dimensional propaganda each nation's government seems intent on turning out.

Unfortunately I am not a writer, and would not have the skill to craft it. I am a historian and hope to do what I can to counter the misinformation. What I have written here is a brief summary of the time. Rather than focusing on the overall story, (which every school-child knows) I have instead chosen to focus on the major misconceptions and myths, without regional or national bias. In doing so I hope to make people understand the truth of the time and people that lived through it.

**Avatar: Last Firebender**

**Book 1, Chapter 10**

**The Waterbending Scroll**

Zhao cleared his throat and turned to Jamayang. "I assumed _you_ know why I called _you_ here?" The facing and emphasis on the "you" was a subtle reminder that Hama was in the room uninvited.

Jamayang shook his head. "Hmmm. I'm afraid not, Admiral Zhao."

Zhao clamped his hand behind his back and walked towards the other end of the room. "We are going to be arriving at Lin Yung in a few days and we need to discuss strategy."

Jamayang blinked. "Hmmmm. I really don't see what this has to do with me. You are perfectly capable of commanding your forces."

Zhao's right hand tightened into a fist. "That never stopped you before." He muttered under his breath. Hama gave him a rather ugly look, but kept her mouth shut. "Now then, I will have my ships blockade the port. You can scout the area surrounding the area. I will lead my men to scout the port proper on the off chance the Princess has arrived before us."

"Hmmmm. Oh I see. I'm sorry Admiral Zhao, in the excitement yesterday I completely forgot to tell you. I won't be going."

"WHAT?" Zhao stopped, took a deep breath and continued as levelly as he could. "And why not?"

"The people of Lu Ying are not… well disposed to Air Nomads."

"They're your enemies? Why?" Hama asked in honest confusion.

"Piracy." Zhao answered. "Lu Ying is a free port, and attracts a significant amount of pirates, especially with all the trade routes that go by. The Air Nomads have been in an on again off again war with them."

"A remarkable summary Admiral Zhao. I had no idea you were so well informed."

Zhao frowned, not sure whether that was a complement. "As an Admiral of the Fire Nation, it is my business to know all the enemies of my enemy."

"I see. As I said I won't be going, but that shouldn't be a big loss. The tree covering around the city would make it too dense for effective scouting anyways, and would generate hostility from the city. As long as it's just you, you can pretend you are unaffiliated with us."

"And just where do you plan to go?" Zhao asked.

"Why, to recruit help, of course." Jamayang answered.

Zhao clenched his fist. "So you don't think I can capture-"

Jamayang helped up his hands. "No, no. Merely a back-up in case Azula avoids the city, or something… unexpected happens."

Zhao eyes narrowed. "And just who are you asking for help?"

"The Xuan Feng have a base near here."

Zhao's eyes widened. "I thought you wanted the princess alive?"

Jamayang gave a sigh of exasperation. "Their reputation for violence is greatly exaggerated, Admiral Zhao. They are more than capable of capturing without killing." Jamayang turned to leave, but stopped and turned to face Zhao right as he reached the door. "Admiral Zhao?"

"Yes?"

"Please remember, our orders are to take **all** of them alive, not just the princess." Zhao clenched his hand and growled as Hama and Jamayang left the room.

OoOoOo

Lieutenant Jyoti was nervous. This was the second time the various ship captains had been called to Zhao's ship. The first time had not been pleasant. Granted she was merely the captain of a minor destroyer and hadn't been close to the battle at the time. The captains of the two vessels that had failed to cut Azula off had got it much worse. If it wasn't for the fact that one of the pilots had been killed by Azula already Jyoti didn't think they would have made it out of the room alive.

Seeing Admiral Zhao at a distance she had never realized just how angry he was. The old man….. Jyoti didn't really like to think about the old man. When the leaders of the fleet had decided to defect the old man hadn't been willing to see reason. She tried to convince him, that there was nothing he could do on his own that all the other captains were going along…

He hadn't listened to reason, hung up on "honor" and "duty". He had gone off to confront Zhao, the next day she had been promoted to lieutenant, and became captain of the ship. She wasn't sure why she felt so guilty. It wasn't like she had killed him, and joining him in death wouldn't have done any good. Still, every time she gave an order she could feel that his ghost was silently condemning her. She hoped they could get back to the Fire Nation soon. She needed to visit a mystic.

Jyoti was jolted out of her thoughts by the entrance of Admiral Zhao. She quickly rose with the other captains and saluted. When Zhao gave an "at ease". Jyoti fought back a sigh of relief. He actually sounded… happy?

"As most of the senior officers know, the Air Nomads have departed. Since their arrival their lack of discipline has been a bad influence on the men and I expect everyone to restore order."

Zhao continued to rant on the Air Nomads while Jyoti let her mind wander. Her ship had been too small to house any of them so it didn't matter to her. Frankly she was glad they were gone, the Air Nomads were just creepy. Flying around, ambushing you anywhere and anytime, and those monstrous bison…. She heard rumors from the other ships that the nomads had been doing strange rituals, summoning the spirits of the dead and casting bones.… If there was one good thing about all this is was that she'd no longer have to be worried about being ambushed in the dead of night by Air Nomads dropping from sky.

Jyoti snapped out of her thoughts when she realize Zhao had changed subjects."-the port of Lin Yung. Azula will most likely try to acquire some means of transportation. The port is filled with pirates and mercenaries." Zhao tone indicated his disgust. "As such, this is both our best chance to catch her. At the same time, there is a huge risk of her making it to the North Pole if she manages to grab a ship."

Jyoti didn't understand why it was such a threat for Azula to make it to the North Pole. The Air Nomads had the entire world under their control, didn't they? Honestly she didn't understand this at all. When she'd been told about the change it was supposed to be "surrender with honor". The entire Fire Nation military was defecting, they were told. The capital would fall. The Air Nomads were willing to have a negotiated peace, and allowing the Fire Nation to stay intact.

Granted, neither she nor anyone else had believed half of it. But after so many years at sea she just wanted to go home. This war had been going on her entire life, and they were continously losing. Sure, when she was a child she'd believed the propaganda about victories. But once she joined the military she realized the truth: The successful defenses were merely the Air Nomads conducting hit and runs, and the successful attacks were the Air Nomads retreating. Their manpower was hardly ever affected. Never once had they had a real victory. Even under Fire Lord Iroh the war had been a deadlock, not a victory, and the Avatar had crushed him like a fly.

"Lietenant Jyoti!"

"Sir!" Jyoti rose and saluted, praying Zhao hadn't noticed her distraction.

"Your ship and men will provide transportation to the port. Your cover story is that you are a deserter from the military following the defeat at the capital." Which wasn't really that untrue, thought Jyoti. "You are stopping there as one of the few free ports in the world. Commanders Zhe and Ravi!"

"Sir!" both the commanders stood at attention.

"Assign one squad of men each. You will be accompanying me and Jyoti into the city. Once there attempt to gather as much information as possible. We must find Azula before she leaves the city."

"Yes sir." Answered both at once.

"Good. Captain Haichi. You are in command of the fleet until I get back. Keep the main fleet out of sight of the port. Do not allow any ships attempting to enter or depart. Capture and search those that leave, I don't want Azula slipping through my fingers, and destroy any ship that comes to the port. If Azula finds out we're here-"

OoOoOo

With the Air Nomads departing the ship life became rather quiet. Zhao took the opportunity to "restore order" by cracking down on cards games, music, drinks, and anything else that could remotely be considered "fun". At the same time Zhao had retaken the deck of the ship with gusto, using the newly freed up deck space to conduct massive training drills. Oddly enough, if Hama heard the grumbling right, Zhao had never seen a need for the massive drills before the Air Nomads showed up.

Without Jamayang aboard there wasn't much in the way of conversation, so Hama kept mostly to herself, reading her book. It was about three days later when she noticed the general level of activity had increased. Looking outside the port hole she saw another ship pulling up alongside them. Hama gave a sigh, closed the book, and headed out.

Hama silently cursed whoever thought building a ship the size of a small village was a good idea and began to look for Zhao. She eventually found him on the side of the ship. "Zhao? May I ask what you are doing?" Hama asked as sweetly as she could.

"What does it look like?"

Hama looked over the side of the railing, seeing the other ship pulling up. "If I had to guess I'd say you were going to go to that smaller ship, but what I don't know is why?"

Zhao rolled his eyes. "To head to the port of Lu Yeng, if our entire fleet went it would only tip Azula off."

Hama stopped that was…. A lot smarter than Hama had expected of Zhao, actually. "I see, and why didn't you inform me of this?"

"Because. You. Are. Not. Going." Zhao stated firmly.

"And you are? If I remember right this… Azula and you have met several times. She'd recognize you-"

"This is my mission! Not Jamayang's! I will capture Azula, and you will, not, interfere!" Zhao roared.

Hama looked defiant for a second, before deflating. "I see. Well then I'll just be in my room." Hama walked away, but couldn't resist one last potshot. "Let me know when you need healing this time."

OoOoOo

As previously noted, when confronted with the idea of privacy of someone Jamayang's age, Hama laughed of the concept. She had a rather similar strategy for dealing with disagreement between herself and her children on what she could and couldn't do. She would smile, nod politely, and ignore everything they said. There was a rather important difference between her children and Zhao, Hama actually respected her children.

The guards would later report to Zhao, "Sir, we tried, but it looked like she was just taking a stroll. We didn't know she was gonna jump of the edge of the ship. By the time I got there she was already walking away, on top of the water." The guard in question was sentenced to pealing vegetables for a week. Zhao had heard of the phrase 'don't set the messenger on fire' but didn't really consider it to apply to him.

The guard's report was somewhat inaccurate. Hama had actually conjured up a "slide" of ice to get to the waterline, rather than risking breaking something with a jump. Furthermore it is quite impossible to walk on water, it's an inherent paradox. In order to generate the upward force on the water to counter balance yourself, you need to bend. In order to bend you need to move, which changes the force needed to keep you up, which means… and so on and so forth.

Finally the bending would have to radically change as your center of balance changed when putting your feet up and down as you walked. Ashe'd never let me here the end of such it is much easier to "glide" upon the water, generating more force than is needed and using the extra to push yourself along. Not only does this alleviate the problem of equal force, but it also means your center of balance isn't constantly shifting.

OoOoOo

When Hama had headed out, she hadn't realized how far the ship was from shore. By the time she got to shore her first priority was to find somewhere to sit down and catch her breath.

"Hhuu. Good thing Siku isn't here to see this, or he'd never let me hear the end of it. Now then, let's see." Hama reached into the pack she was carrying, pulling out a well worn set of clothes and began to change into them. After finishing changing, she summoned a small sheet of water and froze it, using the ice as a makeshift mirror.

"Mess up the hair… A bit of dirt, and some mysterious scarring…" At this Hama opened a small bottle of ink and began to carefully bending it onto her face and hands, to give an appearance several 'scars'. "And there we go. Hehehe." Hama laughed to herself as she walked off. That was Zhao's problem, no sense of suitability. An entire group of Fire Nation troops? Dead giveaway, but who's going to notice one old crone?

OoOoOo

Zhao slammed the man over the table, before turning to punch the one sneaking up behind him. A third brawler slammed a chair over his back, which cracked in two. It hurt like hell, but while Zhao was never the smartest, or the most skilled, he was by far one of the toughest Firebenders ever produced. Zhao snorted fire from his nose as he turned around. The man gave a high pitched shriek and fell to the floor, a wet spot appearing on his pants. Zhao turned around in disgust and waded back to the main area of the brawl.

Two of his men were surrounded, but he proceeded to grab two of the thugs and fling them over the bar counter. He kicked a third to the ground before the rest could turn around. The odds were now three on three and Zhao made short work of the others. The brawl began winding down and Zhao went to pick of the few stragglers.

"Does anyone else have a problem with my facial hair?" A chorus of groans and "no's" echoed throughout the bar. "Good. Now then I'd like to offer the opportunity to make you all very rich." Zhao held up a gold coin, while the various pirates, bandits and assorted riff raft looked on with interest. "I'm looking for someone…."

OoOoOo

It was already dark by the time Hama had made it to the city. She headed to one of the inns on the outskirts of the city. The door creaked as she entered, and several pairs of eyes looked up, before going back to their drinks. The bar was dirty, not that Hama could really tell under the smoke and low light. A couple of thugs made began to move towards her but Hama made sure they slipped on one of the many spilled drinks before they got near her. The patrons roared with laughter at the "clumsiness" and Hama was able to make her way to the front without anyone else bothering her.

"One room please," she said, laying down a large stack of water tribe coins.

The barman, a tall figure with a surprisingly pronounced nose looked at the coins and rolled his eyes. "Your money's no good here."

Hama mentally cursed, with Jamayang gone Zhao had access to the stores, and he'd never have let her have access, so she had to make do with what she brought herself. "Perhaps I can offer my services."

The man gave a shudder. "I have no interest. Though some of my patrons might be drunk enough."

Hama seriously considered freezing him to the wall at that point. "I think you misunderstand. My services of an entirely different nature…." With that Hama brought a thin layer of water up to her hands and used it to redirect the chi pathways. Since her hands were fine all this did was give them an odd tingling sensation. The glow however….

The barman gasped and took a step back. While Hama continued, "I think you'll find that it would not be wise to offend me…." With that Hama bent one of the bottles in the back, causing it to explode. The effect worked like a charm, the man began desperately shuttering his apologies and offering Hama her own room. Hama let off a chuckle as she headed upstairs.

OoOoOo

Zhao was not happy. "Nothing. We've found _nothing_!"

The unlucky solider saluted. "Sorry sir but we checked each of the inns he named and there was no one there."

"That scum must have lied to us… Come on then. I need to make him understand that nobody makes a fool out of me." Zhao lead his men back to the original bar, but by the time they had arrived back the man who had given them the information had run off, taking the gold with him.

Zhao slammed his fist on the bar counter "Who is he? Where is he?"

"I don't-" The barman began, but stopped as Zhao began to set fire to the counter. "Wait, his name is Ziek, he comes by occasionally. He's probably skipped town, heading out on the next outbound ship." The man babbled desperately as he grabbed a bucket of water and put out the small fire.

This actually managed to abet Zhao's anger. Motioning to his troops he ordered them out. "Come on. Back to the ship, I don't trust these... scum not to rob us in our sleep."

OoOoOoOo

Hama groaned as the first peaks of sunlight streamed through the window. It wasn't fair. It was the dead of winter, there shouldn't even be a sun. She rose from the bed, stretching her arms and began get dressed. She gave a yawn and headed down the stairs.

As she was about to head out the owner ambushed her. "Was everything... alright?" he asked, radiating fear.

"Yes, you have done well to provide such hospitality for an old woman. Blessing be upon this humble establishment." Hama was embarrassed at how lame it sounded, but the owner ate it up.

"Will you be needing to return?"

"No. I never return to the same place twice." Pure boar-bull, but it always helped to have an aura my mystery; nothing generated rumors like mystery. Hama began to walk out the door, but turned around one last time. "Beware the fiery yew."

"Wait, what does that mean?" The man cried, running after her.

OoOoOo

Zhao gave a growl of frustration. Turning to the two thugs, he began to berate them. "No you idiots. What part of she's a high born Fire Bender do you not understand.." here he motioned to the girl the thugs had brought before him. "Do you take me for some fool who can't tell a tavern wench from lady? Get out of my sight before I burn you to a crisp."

The two thugs, sensing how much danger they were in, ran off. The girl whom they had been holding fell to her knees. "Thank you, they kidnappe-"

"I said GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!" Realizing that Zhao was just as much a danger to her as the thugs, she beat a hasty retreat. Zhao sighed. He had learned from his mistakes yesterday and had made sure that while the reward was prominently displayed, not a penny would go out unless the real Azula was found. Since then he had been treated to a steady stream of pirates, cutthroats and thugs trying to pass of every half-breed, mongrel and Fire Nation castaway with yellow eyes as Azula. Honestly, trying to pass of these low-life scum without a hint of Fire Bending as Azula….

Zhao looked up as another crew of pirates walked up to him. "What do you want?"

"Arrr, I hear you be looking for a Fire Bender. One 'o those High Born types. I might be having some information."

"No girl, no gold. Do you honestly think I would fall for every low life scam that comes my way?" Zhao said as he waved them off.

"But does every low life scam know that she travels with two water rats? One 'o whom bends? Or has a whale-wolf fer a-". The rest of the words were cut off as Zhao grabbed the man's beard, and lower his own face to him.

"Talk."

OoOoOo

"The dragon's eye sees all," Hama intoned.

"It's so small…" the man began breathlessly…

"Harvested from an unhatched egg. It's own future never to hold; now it sees others." Hama barely kept herself from rolling her eyes. The "dragon's eye" was actually the eye of the rabbit she caught and cooked for lunch. She had frozen it with a thin layer of ice, and so far it had done an admirable job of fooling the fools. "Now ask it your question."

The man leaned forward causing Hama to draw back from the stench. "Oh great dragons eye, will I ever managed to win Anju's heart?"

Wordlessly Hama use two of her fingers to bend the ice, making the eyeball appear to magically "jump" into her hand. She then held it up to her face, and mumbled a solemn, "I see."

She continued in the same solemn tone, reaching into her pouch. "For now love is dead." She pulled out a wilted flower. "However, the dragon's eye show's not the now, but the future." With that she carefully placed the dragon's eye on the flower, which instantly bloomed, fully restored to life.

The man gave a gasp of joy. Hama was actually rather proud of that trick. She'd developed it just today. She had read about how wilted flowers could be restored to life by giving them sufficient water. It had been pure luck that she'd come across some in the forest earlier today, and on a lark she'd decided to see if she could accelerate the process with waterbending. Granted it wasn't much use back home, but it was a fun trick.

"Hold up there, about my payment…"

The man, who had been practically skipping away from the table, stopped. "Oh right," and he began reaching into his pocket.

"I don't deal in _money_." Hama said, putting just the right amount of disdain into the word. "Rather, I gave you a tale, now you must give me one. Tell me what is going on."

The man scratched his head, but decided it was better to not argue with the mystic. "Well let's see, the purple hats were gonna sell some old scroll, but had it stolen…"

OoOoOo

Hama sighed. Today had been a mixed success. On the one hand her mystic act had worked like a charm. She'd set herself up on one of the tables in of the busier pubs and had had people come by all day. The information had been enough to get a general picture of the area.

On the other hand the picture wasn't that good: Zhao, after his brief moment of brilliance in leaving the fleet home, had returned to his usual level of competence by blatantly offering a reward for Azula's capture. While he at least had the presence of mind not to give her actual name, it had still turned up a witch hunt in the town which was almost certain to tip Azula off. Combining that with the fact that she hadn't heard a thing about Azula….

Hama had finally given up as the sun began to set, retiring to a smaller inn where she could find some peace and quiet. She sat alone at one of the tables in the common area while she began to plan her next move. Her eyes wandered around the pub, taking in the place. Eventually they fell upon a young Water Tribe girl pouring over some sort of scroll.

The girl had her back turned, so she couldn't make out the face, but she looked full-blooded, either a recent refugee or a child of two. Hama felt sorry for the girl, especially in a place like this. From the way she carried herself and the intensity with which she studied the scroll Hama was sure she hadn't been here for long. Anyone used to Lu Yeng would be much more careful to keep an eye out for pickpockets. Hama herself had only been here a day and even she knew that. It was only a matter of time before someone took advantage of her-

Hama's train of thought stopped when she realized just what the scroll she was reading was: Instructions on a basic water whip. Her mind went into overdrive. On the one hand it clearly indicated that the girl was a waterbender. On the other hand waterbenders were fairly common among water tribe members, with only the Air Nomads having a higher percentage, so it wasn't like it was unheard of. But then again the girl was about the right age, and it would explain why she looked like she had never been here before….

Hama made her decision. The girl might not be the one, but if she wasn't it wasn't like it would hurt her, and if she was this might be the only opportunity Hama got to talk to her without the Fire Princess nearby.

Hama tapped on her shoulder. "Excuse me," she began. The girl turned around, and gave a yell of fear before falling backwards over her chain. Hama stared in confusion for second, before realizing just what had happened. "Oh right! My face. Sorry about that, I err, look that way so that people won't bug me. I'm not really like that…" Hama felt lame even as she said it, and began to desperately bend the ink off, and while pushing her hair back.

Surprisingly, the girl actually seemed to cope rather well, muttering a low, "It figures" before getting to her feet.

It was at that point that Hama got a good look at her face. "Kanna?"

The girl's eyes rose in shock "What do you know about Gran-Gran?"

"Gran-Gran?" Hama couldn't help herself and began doubling over in laughter. Of all the coincidences!

The girl stared at her in confusion. Which was really understandable given that Hama tapped her on the shoulder looking like a hag out of some story, claimed it was disguise, named her grandmother, and then began doubling over in laugher. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It's just, I knew Kanna and meeting her granddaughter, here, of all places!"

"You knew Gran Gran?"

"Yes… look, why don't we sit down?" Hama pulled up a seat. "My name's Hama, and you are?"

"Katara," she answered.

"Katara. I knew your grandmother about oh… it would be about 40 years ago. I remember when she first came down from the Northern Tribe. She couldn't even skin a seal pup."

Katara's eyes widened at this little revelation. "She never told me that."

"Well of course not, bit embarrassing isn't it? The Northern Tribe treats there women like delicate flowers. So tell me, how is she now? Who'd she marry? How many kids?"

"My grandfather was Ulva-"

Hama gave a quick cough "Wait, Ulva! The Ulva? Your related to Hakoda?"

"He's my father." Katara replied proudly.

"I see."

"You were alive when the great city was still around, weren't you? Before it was destroyed by traitors and deserters. Can you tell me about it?"

"Well I didn't live there, just visited with my father during the winter months." A complete lie, but the last thing Hama needed was Katara labeling her as a "deserter". While Hama's mouth droned on about the buildings and sights of the Great City, her mind was somewhere else entirely.

The girl was Hakoda's daughter. He was one of the many fighting chieftains, and one of the least willing to negotiate. His daughter had almost certainly been raised with his viewpoint, and given his unwillingess to compromise she was unlikely to have met anyone to challenge that viewpoint. Add to that the fact that, if Hama's memory served, he had launched a series of violent raid six years ago in response to his wife, her mother, being killed…. This was not going to be easy.

"But enough about that. So tell me, how did you get all the way up here?"

"Oh, well, I got passage on one of the ships. I'm planning to head to the Northern Water Tribe to learn waterbending."

"All alone?"

Katara shifted uncomfortably. "I can take care of myself…"

Hama nodded. The girl was at least clever enough to realize that by mentioning her companion she would attach unwanted attention. Still the recent information was incredibly valuable. Not only did it explain why she had come with Azula, but it gave Hama and idea of how to convince her. "So you're going up there to learn healing?"

"What? No. I mean I want to learn that too, but I want to learn everything."

"Oh, but don't you know? The Northern Water Tribe only teaches their women healing…."

"What! That can't be true!" Katara yelled.

Hama shrugged. "Well that's what Kanna told me when she came down."

"But she didn't tell me anything like that!"

Hama scratched her head "Well maybe they've changed since she came down..."

"Yeah…" Katara tried to reassure herself. "Hold on a moment. You're a waterbender, right?"

Hama smiled. "Yes, why?"

"Well it's just that…" Katara pulled out the scroll she'd been poring over earlier. "Do you think you would help me? I've been having trouble with this..."

Hama smiled and took the scroll in her hands. "Of course, what part of it are you having problems with?"

"Well I can make the whip, but it doesn't seem to, well, whip," she explained.

"Do you mean that would can't get it to move, or that it dissolves when you hit something?"

Katara looked down. "Both, sort of. I mean I can get it to move, but when I try to do it fast enough, it just sort of, dissolves."

Hama nodded. "I think I know your problem. You're not keeping a firm enough 'grip' on the water. Water wants to flow, wants to take the path of least resistance. In some ways that's good, it's why waterbending is the most fluid and adaptable of the arts, but at the same time it makes using it harder. Unlike any of the other elements water is not "fire and forget" even as you hit a target you must keep a constant hold on the water."

"I try but-" Katara began.

"It's not easy. Tell me, are you paying attention to your legs?"

"But you can't waterbend with your feet."

"No, but it's still a vital part of waterbending. Your stance helps you keep control of your arms and hands, and better direct them. It's possible to do it from any stance, but it's a lot harder. Look, why don't we go to the docks? I can show you a proper water-whip there." Hama got up from her seat.

Katara stayed in her chair, looking worried.

"What? Oh come on now don't be embarrassed-" Realization dawned. "Oh no. This was the stolen scroll people were talking about, wasn't it?"

"Errr..." Katara became intensely interested in a particular spot on the floor.

Hama gave a sigh. "Don't worry about it. Look, I saw a river a ways from town we can practice at."

Katara instantly stood up. "Really?" Hama smiled, if Katara accepted her lesson then she would probably stay here. Sure there was still the matter of showing her that the world wasn't the black and white story her father had told her, but Hama was sure she could handle it. She was going to have to apologize to Jamayang. It looked like he was right about his peaceful resolution.

Then all of her plans went up in flames.

Hama had grown used to the sound of firebending from her days on the ship, and recognized it almost immediately. Evidently so did Katara, who jumped out of her seat and began rushing out the door.

"Wait!" yelled Hama, who wasn't nearly as spry as Katara. Moving as fast as she could, Hama ran outside the building and looked for where Katara had gone. She soon spotted the girl running towards the battle, and Hama gave an exasperated sigh as she followed.

Hama began to make out the details of the battle as she drew closer. The main fight was right along the docks. On one side was Zhao, a large number of Fire Nation solders and benders, and an assortment of pirates. Facing them all alone was what Hama guessed was Azula, unless there was some other blue fire wieldier Hama didn't know about.

Watching the battle, Hama gained an appreciation for how deadly Azula really was. She was holding her own… perhaps even winning, against at least forty to one odds. She was dodging around Zhao's blasts, while picking off the weaker firebenders one by one. What was most impressive was that she was actually using Zhao's attacks to her advantage. Staying near barrels, crates and other flammable objects, she was allowing Zhao to create a 'wall of fire' through which the pirates and ordinary solders couldn't pass.

One group of soldiers had apparently caught on, and went through the back alleyways to flank Azula. They would have got her, had Katara not summoned a giant wave to wash them back. Looking at the wave Hama could see what Jamayang had been talking about. The size indicated tremendous power, but the way it simply dispersed upon contact indicated a lack of skill. Ironically this meant that the wave, despite its size, was likely less damaging that Hama's own water whip. Though to be fair, Hama was one of the best waterbenders around.

Hama finally caught up with Katara. "Sorry about this," she said as she bent the puddles of water, freezing Katara feet to the ground and her hands together.

"What are you doing!?" Katara demanded.

" I'm sorry but I don't want you getting hurt." Hama turned, towards Azula, who was now looking from her to Zhao while slowly backing away. They had her trapped. Zhao on one side, Hama on the other, the only place Azula could go was along one of the piers or to jump into the ocean itself.

"You TRAITOR! You-" Katara continued yelling, but Hama tuned her out, hopefully she could explain to the girl later.

"I told you to stay put-"

"Shut up you stupid windbag!" Hama snapped at Zhao.

"Azula is MINE!"

Hama rolled her eyes "Fine, whatever. I'll just keep her from running away."

Zhao resumed his assault on Azula while Hama hung back, preparing a bit of water lest the idiot burn out the pier from under himself.

Katara continued her rant as she desperately began banging her hands on the ice around her feet, obviously hoping to break one of them. " YOU KILLED MY MOTHER-"

SLAP!

It took a few second before Hama realize she had been the one to slap Katara. Evidently Katara was as shocked as she was, stopping midrant. "How dare you! How, dare, you! Accuse me of killing her? The only time I have ever raised my hand against a fellow water tribesman has been to defend my village and myself, which is more than I can say for your father!"

"What?! How dare you talk about my father like that!"

Hama took a deep breath. "Did you think he went picking arctic flowers during the summer months? He's going off and fighting."

"He's fighting the traitors."

"And leaving some other little girl without her parents! He's just making his own bid for chiefdom, under the banner of imaginary "traitors". His own pride and need for blood. He's just like all the others, turning the snow red with the blood of their own stupid, petty-"

Hama was cut off by two blasts of blue fire. The first hit Katara's feet, the second was aimed to her chest, but she raised her hands at the last minute. The fireballs shattered the ice and for a second both waterbenders stood still. Katara still trying to register the fact that she was now free and Hama marveling at the precision it must have taken to create a blast big enough to destroy the ice without harming Katara.

"Katara-" Hama began, deflating.

"SHUT UP, you stupid HAG!' Katara yelled, pulling a massive stream of water from the ocean, twisting it high in the air before bringing it down like a hammer.

Hama responded with a wall of ice, but the water smashed through it like glass, and Hama barely managed to dodge the torrent.

"YOU, STUPID, LYING, OLD HAG!" Katara summoned up a wave this time, which tore through one of the wooden piers on its way to Hama.

Hama responded with several ice shards, directing them through the wave and causing it to lose its stability. Even though it crashed down several yards away from her she was still forced to bend the water away less the tide consume her.

"**YOU"** Katara's rant was finally cut off, by a water whip from Hama to the head. The blow was quick, sharp and would probably really hurt in the morning, but it did put her down for the count.

Hama sighed. "I'm not a liar." She turned around to see the other battle. It was down to just Zhao and Azula, but from the looks of things all the dodging and blasting had finally taken its toll on both of them.

"Surrender, Princess, or this pier will by your pyre!" Zhao boasted.

Azula's only response was to begin with waving her hands around, creating little points of light. Hama stood in awe, realizing this was the lighting Jamayang had warned her about. Zhao desperately released a stream of flame, but Azula arched her back and easily dodged it. Finally Azula raised her fingers, and Hama knew she had completed the technique. All she had to do now was kill Zhao-

With a start Hama realized that Azula was aiming at _her._ With only seconds to spare some last minute survival instinct cause her to summon a brief ring of water around herself. The lightning flew towards her, but by some miracle it hit the water, curving around Hama. As it diverted itself to both sides Hama closed her eyes, but she could still _feel_ the charge passing by her, the heat just around her, the bright light piercing through her eyelids.

In an instant it was over, and Hama gratefully let the water drop to the ground. She rushed the length of the pier, towards where Zhao and Azula were. The battle was still going on, but it was turning against Azula. The lightning had taken a lot out of her, she had evidently been relaying on it to kill Hama. Now she was forced to constantly dodge the fire and water coming at her, and couldn't even take a moment to retaliate. Meanwhile, several of the other Firebenders were recovering, and joining the fight. With each passing second Hama could see her getting a little more tired, and the blows coming a little closer. Hopefully Zhao could remember he was not supposed to kill her, and if not Hama had enough power to douse his flames.

"HEY EVERYONE!" Hama turned around. The fight had gathered quite a crowd. In front of them was a Water Tribe boy, riding what looked to be a Killer Whale-Wolf. "THEY'RE WORKING WITH THE AIR NOMADS, THEY'RE TRYING TO BURN THE SHIPS AND CITY!"

Hama frowned in confusion. Burn the city? What was he talking abo- With a start Hama looked at the numerous fires along the piers. She desperately called out to Zhao "Stop!" but the only effect this had was to enrage him further. Causing him to redouble his assault on Azula. The crowd, seeing several fire benders indiscriminately burning the docks, made the obvious conclusion.

"GET EM!"

OoOoOoO

Hama sighed. She had managed to create an "ice boat" that had let them get away, and then guided it over to the ship. Afterwards she and Zhao had had a fight, but evidently he wasn't stupid enough to try anything. Once they got back to the Hammer of Agni she had retired to her cabin.

She felt old. There were no other words for it. Intellectually, she had known she was old for some time, but she'd always been "young at heart". After the disaster with Katara, and Azula's lightning…. Now she just felt old, old and tired.

It had been…. forty years ago when she had left the capital city. Her family's home (and many others) had been destroyed by one of the assaults. Rather than continue to be used as troops in the pointless war of succession, her father and several other men had decided to move their families to a new village.

This village, without the economic drain of the war, was able to prosper. Naturally this had attracted raiders. Some attacked them for tribute for the "true chieftain", some accused them of being "deserters" some didn't bother giving justifications, and just attacked. The village had been devastated, but they learned. Hama's bending knowledge grew with each attack she survived, and soon she began to rearrange the very terrain; creating ice walls to hamper attackers, snow drifts to hide the village, hidden holes with ice spikes for the attackers to fall into and even little "hidey holes" for the children to hide during the raids. When the raids actually came she was a terror, no one could stand against her. Soon people began to respect the village, and the raids lessened.

Her age, wisdom, and the role she played in stopping the raids made her the de-facto leader of the village. She had thought it was all over, and she would be able to enjoy old age in peace. Then came the corpses, mangled, bloody, desecrated in ways she didn't want to imagine. It was always during the new moon, at first it was only lone travelers, but then it become two, or three, growing with each attack. Soon no one would go out of the village on moonless nights, but even then they'd just wind up dead in their own homes. They had searched for the killer, desperately trying to find some bandit or madman. Just as tensions were at the boiling point Jamayang had showed up. He claimed it was a spirit, and he thought he could stop it.

Hama was actually somewhat ashamed of how she treated him at the time. Shunning him and allowing him only one of the most distant huts. He'd nearly frozen to death before she'd taken pity and offered him an extra set of clothes. Finally, during the next full moon Jamayang went out into the wilderness alone, and requested everyone else stay together, so he was the only one alone. He returned the next day, bruised and bleeding, but smiling. After Hama had healed him up he'd told her that it was all over.

He'd proved as good as his word, the attacks ended. Hama had always meant to ask him what sort of spirit it was, but had never found the courage. She still didn't like to think of the corpses, especially Injuquaq's family, all six of them. No one had heard a sound, but when they'd come the next day… It had been decided to simply collapse the house and declare it a mass grave, rather than try to pick up all the….pieces.

It wasn't for another six months that Hama finally made the decision to go to the Air Temple. It was funny. Even after meeting Jamayang, she still had held onto her own biases, formed when she was a child. She had expected the Air Nomads to be cloaked figures, imposing, ethereal, chanting and praying all the time. Instead she'd found that they were… people.

They did chant, and meditate, and some were imposing or distant. But they also played, and laughed and some were friendly, forgetful or funny. Ultimately that was it, people were people. The Fire Nation demonized the Air Nomads, the Water Tribe demonized each other. Everyone was so focused on "the enemy" they couldn't stop fighting.

That was what had really sold Hama. Some of the Air Nomads hated or feared the Fire Nation, but many didn't and the actual teaching didn't. They didn't want to exterminate the Firebenders. Even as they fought them they look forward to a future where they could be peaceful. Yes, they'd sided with one of the factions of the Water Tribe's civil war, but honestly, having one faction, winning, no matter who it was, sounded good to Hama right now. Anything to end this stupid war. They'd never forced her or her village to fight for them, only requested.

And she'd failed that request. After all Jamayang had done, she couldn't even help with one untrained waterbender. She'd lost her temper. There was no chance of Katara talking to her now. Hama gave a sigh and made her decision. Zhao was healed, Katara a loss. She was going to request the next Air Bison back home as soon as Jamayang got back. There wasn't anything else she could do here

OoOoOoO

**Author's Note: **Poor Hama. My main goal with Hama was to complete the exploration of the various Air Nomad allies and the different reasons they join. The second half of the season will be focusing on the Air Nomads proper. Here we will explore different perspectives such as the fanatic, deserter, diplomat, Jamayang and Aang himself (not necessarily in that order).

Sorry this chapter took so long. I had to rewrite the plot because the original one had themes and ideas that were already going to be explored in a later (more plot vital) episode. Exploring it from the antagonists perspective was a fun change of pace. If you're wondering what the heroes were doing it can be mostly pieced together, but it really isn't that vital. If you really need to know ask me for a summary in a review/PM and I'll send one in my reply.

As always thanks to all to reviewed. I'd like to give a special thanks to two people. First VCC as mentionied earlier, for catching that mistake. Second, Ogro, who mentioned my "Last Firebender" in his story "Distorted Reality". (If there's actually anyone out there reading my story without having heard of his, go read it.)

Jyoti was a bit of an improv. But she offered me a good chance to give some details on the solders following Zhao. Their motivations and doubts, as well as the overall ignorance and fear the average Fire Nation citizen has of the Air Nomads. I was originally going to include a subplot where she meets Hama (in disguise) and asks her for help, but the plot was getting far too long anyways.

**Preview**: Departing from the port of Lu Ying, Azula continues north. Unfortunately the high cliffs mean the only passes through the area are guarded by Air Nomads. Luckily Azula find herself aided by the rebel Jet, whose band of freedom fighters are dedicated to ending the Air Nomad influence in his region. Will the princess and the rebel be able to work together to defeat the Air Nomads?


	11. Jet

**The Rise and Fall of the Air Nomad Empire**

Excerpt from Chapter 7- The Air Empire, a fiction 500 years in the making

The third great misconception is how the Air Nomads "ruled". Over time four main perceptions on how the Air Nomads interacted with the Earth Kingdoms have popped up. The first, which was popular during the time of the empire, painted the Air Nomads not as rulers, but more a creators of an alliance. Each kingdom was still self-ruled, the Air Nomads merely helping to facilitate peace between kingdoms. Territories joined of their own accord, and could leave at any time. Certain apologist works, such as "A reconsideration of the role of the Air Nomads in history"(K. Song 1730) have also taken this view.

The second one treats the Air Nomads as simple conquerors. This view is usually taken by Earth Kingdom books with a nationalist bent and a 'loose' view of history such as "Arise, Sons of the Earth!"(1650).

The third view is equally simplistic, treating the Earth Kingdom as either easily tricked fools who bowed to the Air Nomads or dolts who needed to be ruled over. This view was especially popular in the late 1600's to early 1700's in the Water Tribes and Fire Nation. It both glorified their own achievements in fighting the Air Nomad and provided justification for colonization efforts. Unfortunately, this view may have never really died out, especially give the popularity of "Rebirth of the Fire Nation!"

The final view is a mix of the first and second. Instead of portraying the Air Nomads as direct conquerors it instead portrays them as more subtle. In it they use underhanded deals and tricks to rule, such as replacing a king who was unwilling to join with one who was, or declaring any movement that wanted to leave the Air Empire "rebels". By far the most famous work of this type is the Play, "The Divided Earth".

Ultimately the truth is likely a mixture of the first and fourth, though it is hard to tell how much of each. Writers during Air Nomad rule wrote positively of them, but almost immediately switched when it ended. There is no way to tell whether that was due to the Air Nomads suppressing dissident or because the governments afterwards would have been adverse to positive writings about them.

Like the debate on how the empire was formed, the very structure of the Air Nomad hierarchy during the time makes it difficult to tell how widespread corruption was. Each kingdom had it own ambassador who sent back their own reports. As such it is impossible to tell whether dirty politics was "official unofficial" policy or the act of independent masters.

Perhaps the best way to tell is by the dissent in the earth kingdom itself. If so then it would indicate a sharp rise in problems during the last decade. Aside from the mass revolutions in the last year, unrest had been brewing for quite some time and several revolutions had broken out. The Bei Fong rebellion was the most famous, and is covered in chapter 14. However, it was far from the only one.

**Avatar: Last Firebender**

**Book 1, Chapter 11**

"**Jet"**

Katara raised the bloody butcher's knife, holding it high in the air before bringing it down upon her target.

Chop!

The blood splattered onto her face. Katara peeled another hunk of meat off the animal, placing it on rocks she'd washed clean earlier. Noticing Azula's distress, she looked up in confusion. "Is something wrong?"

Azula, who had been watching Katara butcher the animal with fascinated horror, replied with the only words she could think of, "How can you do that so easily?"

"Well, my mother first showed me how, but I was really too young to take it in. It was really Gran-Gran who taught me to actually wield a knife. It kind of weird doing it on an animal I've never seen before, but that's why I'm only taking the obvious bits of meat. Do want me to show you how?"

Azula waved her off, "No thanks." She turned around and made an expression of disgust. She liked her meat as much as the next person, but could not understand how the Water Tribe siblings could be so casual about the whole thing. It was gross. One moment Katara could be declaring an animal 'cute' then the next day Sukara would bring its headless corpse and she or Sokka would just chop it up. And that's not even counting the time Sokka had gone in to a long description of how the best seal jerky was gotten from baby seals…

Clubbed baby seals….

To make the meat tender.

Azula sat down and begin looking at the sky. Trying to ignore the squishy chopping sounds in the back.

OoOoOo

Sokka gave another groan of disappointment. He had been searching all day and so far had come up with a few nuts, and some of them might have been rocks. "That's it! If the others want something other than meat so badly, they can get it themselves!" he shouted to the world. "This is the last time I do the foraging."

Kicking his feet in the dirt, Sokka headed back to the camp. When he arrived back he found it surprisingly… empty. "Guys? GUYS? Please don't tell me I got lost- Mhhhh!"

"Be quiet!" Azula hissed, as she covered his mouth and pulled him to the ground. Sokka nodded, and Azula released her hand.

"What's going on?" Sokka whispered. Azula wordlessly pointed up to the sky. He followed her finger and was able to make out two sky bison circling overhead. "Did they see us? Where's Katara?"

"She's hiding behind the tree over there. I don't know if they saw us. The tree covering is fairly dense so hopefully-" Azula's words died in her mouth as several figures flew down from the bison. Azula turned to Sokka and put one figure over her lips, while giving a 'wait' sign with the other hand and a look that promised horrible vengeance were he to make so much as a sound.

The Air Nomad gliders circled the area, like vultures hovering over a kill. Slowly they began to get larger as they got closer to the ground. They landed in a 'ring' pattern, each one about fifteen feet from two others. Azula looked out from the tree she was hidden behind and counted seven in total. The nearest was only a few yards away from her hiding spot, but evidently they hadn't seen her.

The forest was nearly silent, punctuated only by the occasional bird cry. Finally, after several tense seconds Azula decided to risk another peek. The Air Nomads were facing each other, and exchanging several quick hand signs. The group began to walk towards her spot. Azula quickly ducked back around the tree.

As they came closer Azula tried to form a plan. They were still remaining in the circle formation, far enough to keep a decent spread, but close enough to cover each other. That and the use of hand signs indicated these men were not amateurs. One of them was marching near the river; Sukara was hiding there so Azula didn't have to worry about him. On the other hand, while Katara and Sokka might be able to take out one, they were too much of a wild card to rely on.

Azula's heart nearly stopped as a sound echoed throughout the forest, before realizing it was only another bird. Evidently the Air Nomads were as spooked as her, as she couldn't hear them moving. Azula got back to thinking. The six of them presented a problem; taking on six decent benders was dangerous, even for her. She could probably take them, but if she started getting too effective one might run off, and given the Air Nomad base in the area that likely spelled doom for her. She needed to beat them, but also make sure they were confident enough they were all in range when she started winning.

Azula decided on a plan. She would ambush the one nearest as soon as he came by the tree, then make a dash for the farthest one. The others would most likely figure she killed him only because of the ambush, and move to flank her. With luck she could reduce the odds to four to one and still have them all in range. As the moments passed Azula nervously looked to where Katara was hiding. She had no way to contact her and could only hope she stayed hidden. If they survived this Azula resolved to teach the siblings some hand signals. She began charging up a fire blast.

Finally the Air Nomad stepped into view. Azula thrust her hand forward and released a blast of blue fire, enveloping the unlucky Air Nomad. The forest erupted into chaos, as several people seemed materialize out of nowhere. To her left, one of the Air Nomads made a gurgling sound as an arrow appeared through his neck. Another barely dodged the massive club that came down upon him, only to fall as he was knifed in his unprotected legs. A cry from the river let Azula know Sukara was getting his own prey. The farthest Air Nomad was already in combat, though Azula couldn't make out the details.

Azula quickly looked around for any Air Nomads still up. Only two were unoccupied and the wave of water coming from Katara meant that number would soon be reduced to one. Azula charged the last Nomad, who was still trying to figure out what was going on. He raised his staff and began deflecting her blasts, but against a bender of Azula's caliber, there was really only one possible outcome.

Katara had knocked her opponent into a tree and was in the process of freezing him there. Most of the others were various stages of "dead", "dying" or "smashed". The only airbender up left was desperately fighting off a swordsman wielding two hook-swords. Whoever he was he was clearly used to fighting airbenders, keeping in close enough to prevent the Air Nomad from being able to properly use his staff. Unfortunately that also meant they were to close for Azula to fry him.

"Get back!" she shouted.

The swordsman took one quick look at her, and then thrust both of his swords forward. The monk grinned as he easily dodged them. He stopped grinning as one of the swords caught the edge of his staff, pulling it forward. As one end of the staff was dragged forward, the other was thrust backward, catching onto the 'hook' of other sword. The swordsman kicked the Air Nomad in the stomach, and pulled on the swords, the combined effect cause the helpless Air Nomad to lose his grip on the staff. Wasting no time, the swordsman brought his swords forward, putting one into the chest and one into the throat.

The man stood up, wiping his blades on a tree before turning to Azula, who was looking on in appreciative silence. "Thanks" he began. "Always nice to have help cleaning up the trash in these woods."

Azula smiled and gave a dismissive wave of her hand. "It was nothing."

He chuckled. "I imagine not, from the way you destroyed the first one. Don't get many fire benders around here…"

"We're just passing through." Azula replied. Neither of them spoke for a few seconds. Azula tried to pick up the conversation "So-"

"AHHH!"

Azula gave a curse under her breath as she was interrupted by Katara's scream. "What in the world does she want?"

Heading over, Azula found Katara in a rather vigorous argument with a small boy about half her size. While Sokka, and the swordsman's group looked onward.

"I had him!"

"And we finished him."

"Murderer!"

"idiot!"

"Be quiet!" Azula and the man ordered at the same time. Both sides obeyed. "What is going on here?"

"She-"

"He-"

"Stop" Azula ordered, and turned towards the swordsman, who was clearly the leader of the group. "Excuse me a moment," she said to swordsman, before dragging Katara off a few feet, while Sokka followed behind.

"Just what is your problem?" Azula hissed.

Katara stepped back, surprised by Azula hostility. Then she rebounded "He," she pointed to the archer,"killed him" she finished, pointing to an Air Nomad. Who was frozen to a tree, with an arrow sticking out of his throat.

Azula blinked. "So your problem is with killing an Air Nomad?" she said, looking at the various bodies strewn around the forest.

"No, I mean..." Katara trailed of, trying to think of the right words. "He was helpless. I already had him frozen."

Azula gave a sigh, putting her hand on Katara's shoulder. "Katara, we are not on the ship anymore. We cannot simply put prisoners on islands, nor can we keep them in the brig. If he had been left there the ice would have eventually melted and then he would have informed his allies both of us and of these fighters. Our lives depend on the Air Nomads not knowing where we are. Do you understand?" Azula said, looking Katara in the eyes.

Katara frowned, but gave a reluctant nod of understanding. Azula smiled and headed back to other group. "Sorry about that. Now where were we?"

"I don't trust her Jet," the small boy began.

Jet cut her off. "Well I do. Princess Azula, right?"

Azula gave a small bow. "You have me at a disadvantage."

"Name's Jet. Freedom fighters, this is Princess Azula. Probably the most wanted woman in all the Air Empire. Azula, these are my freedom fighters: Smellerbee, Pipsqueak, the Duke and Longshot." Jet pointed to each one in turn.

As Jet introduction the various looks of disapproval began to change to respect. Anyone so wanted by the Air Nomads was obviously welcome. "You probably shouldn't stay out here. This won't be the only Air Nomad patrol going by. If you want you and your friends could stay at our base, it's not far from here and well hidden."

"Sure, just let me get them."

OoOoOo

It hadn't taken long to pack up camp. Once Sukara realized they were leaving he simply devoured the half butchered carcass in a few bites. The freedom fighters were giving the Whale-Wolf a wide berth, which Katara seemed to appreciate as she was right next to Sukara.

After about fifteen minutes of walking the Freedom Fighters came to a halt. "What is it?" asked Azula. Jet's only response was to give a quick bird whistle. A second later a rope dropped down from the tree.

Jet grabbed the rope with one hand and Azula with the other, before giving another whistle. As they were lifted up someone began calling down.

"Uggh, not funny Pipsqueak."

"Can it Sneers, it's really me." Jet called back.

"Seriously? Man you really need to lose some weight- " the complaining stopped as they were finally lifted high enough to be able to see each other. "Or maybe not." He finished, eyeing Azula.

Azula considered burning him, but didn't want to offend Jet.

OoOoOoO

"You have fun with your boyfriend?" Katara asked.

Azula rolled her eyes. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"You've been making eyes at Jet all night."

"And you, having lived all your life in a tiny village with only your brother, are clearly the expert on the difference between being polite and love struck. What is your problem? The entire night you've been nothing but nasty to all of them. Just admit you were wrong."

"I-"

Sokka cut his sister off. "Azula, you called us over here for a reason. What is it?"

"Jet needs our help-"

"I don't trust him." Katara hissed.

"Of course you don't. Look, the people in this valley are starving, and the Air Nomads are keeping the supplies. Jet knows when the next supply wagon is coming through."

"If he knows that much then why does he need our help?" Katara argued.

"He's robbed them before and their beefing up security. Look, it's about helping the people in this valley. You like that sort of thing don't you?"

Katara gave a noncommittal grunt, which Azula choose to interpret as a 'Yes'.

"Why should we help them?" Sokka asked.

"What?" Azula asked.

"Look I'm all for helping people, rah rah yay" said Sokka. "But we need to get north. We can't afford to stay here and help a band that already has people after them."

"This area is a valley; the cliffs up North have several scattered Air Nomad bases. In order to get around them we'd need to head miles inward. Jet knows the lay of the land. He can help us sneak by them if we help him. The next shipment's coming tomorrow and he says it's a big enough one to last the rest of the winter."

"Alright."

"Good, now here's what we need to do-"

OoOoOoO

The wagon moved slowly along the path. The guards consisted of a mixed assortment of earthbenders and spearmen. The earthbenders were closer to the cart, allowing them to use their range and protect the cargo with walls if needed. The caravan stopped when they encountered the fallen tree along the road. Instantly the spearmen lifted their shields and looked to the woods. After a few seconds two of the earthbenders stepped forward and began to bend the ground around the tree, rolling it out of the way. As they bent it they made sure to stay behind the spearmen's shields. Their actions confirmed what Azula had already suspected, these guards were professionals, not some barely trained peasants.

"Remember, don't hit the cargo, we don't want the food burning."

"I know, little boy." Azula, condescension dripping from her tone.

"I'm a girl!"

Azula sneered, "Not that anyone would be able to tell."

"Why you-"

"Quiet now, wouldn't want to give away the ambush, now would we?" Azula finished as she began charging up a lightning blast.

Professional or not, the guards didn't know what hit them. The lightning blast struck the closest earthbender dead on, frying him and the two spearmen near him. The guards were well trained in dealing with bandits and earthbenders. Perhaps they had even encountered a firebender once or twice, but they had never seen one of Azula's caliber. Unfamiliar with the sound of called lightning, they made their fatal mistake, they turned towards it.

In an instant the rest of the ambush was sprung. On each side of the caravan, Sukara and Pipsqueak pushed over the trees that Azula had partially burned out the night before. Longshot picked off the distracted earthbenders before they could even turn to face the new threat, while others were simply battered aside by Katara's water whip. Jet and Sokka charged the remaining spearmen from the front, while Azula's fire hit them from behind.

The battle was over in less than a minute, and Azula began to climb onto the wagon to inspect the spoils of war. Within were several sealed barrels, Azula moved to the nearest one and began to pry the lid off. To her frustration she found it was tightly sealed.

"Hey," Jet appeared behind her, putting his arm over her shoulder. "What you doing?"

"Just inspecting the cargo." Azula replied.

"Don't worry about it, we've ambushed these before, this should be plenty. Taking the lids off could spoil the contents and we need this to last through the winter." Azula lifted her hands away from the barrel. "Cmon, let's head back."

OoOoOoOo

"Hey Sneers, you mind lowering me down?" Sokka asked.

"Sure, going out for a nighttime walk?"

"Nah, just going out to look for my sister." Katara had left awhile back and Sokka was beginning to get worried.

Sokka headed down to the river, where he found her practicing the water whip, while Sukara was laying along the banks. "So, any luck with your whip?'

Katara didn't even turn around. "Just watch," she said happily. Moving into her bending stance she brought a small bit of water up from the river. She shifted her stance forward and the water whipped out in front of her, hitting the river with a satisfying splash. "I can even keep the whip together," she finished as she slid back into her original stance, while the whip curled back into the original 'globe' shape.

"Cool, I guess that scroll must have really helped out."

The water splashed to the ground. "Err… yeah! I mean, once I got a chance to really study it…"

Sokka's eyes narrowed. His sister and Azula's beliefs aside, he wasn't stupid, and had lived with his sister long enough to know when she was lying. Now he was sure something had gone on at the docks. He found her knocked unconscious. According to her she'd heard Azula's fight, and had ran to help before being trapped, (and later knocked unconscious) by "That miserable old hag" but Sokka was sure she was hiding something. Still, it wasn't like a direct confrontation was going to help him.

"Look, it's getting late. We should be heading back to camp." Katara gave one last look of longing at the river before following him back, while Sukara lazily rolled onto his feet and began to follow them.

"UGGH, why are only we carrying these?" Katara and Sokka stopped, recognizing Smellerbee's voice.

"Because Fearless leader's back chatting with that princess and if all of us went, it would look pretty suspicious." Pipsqueak replied, while Katara and Sokka snuck closer, trying to get a look at what was going on.

"Yeah well why me and the Duke?" Peering out from behind the trees the siblings saw the three freedom fighters carrying the food barrels. Pipsqueak was holding one with each arm, while the Duke and Smellerbee were struggling to hold up a third between them.

"Because I'm the only one who knows how to arm the Blasting Jelly, and you're the only one my height. Just imagine me trying to carry this with Longshot holding up the other end." The Duke replied.

Sokka and Katara turned to each other. "I knew-" Katara began, before being cut off by Sokka desperately clamping his hand over her mouth.

"What was that?" Smellerbee asked, looking around.

"What was what?" Pipsqueak asked.

"I heard something." Katara and Sokka ducked behind the tree, hoping they weren't spotted. Sokka gave Katara a silent look that nevertheless managed to convey the expression 'You idiot' quite well.

The Duke sighed. "Look, I know you don't want to carry this but the faster we plant these the sooner we don't have to carry them."

"I'm serious. I heard something. Just put it down for a second and we can take a look-" Smellerbee was cut off by a rustling among the trees, and a set of heavy footfalls Katara and Sokka recognized quite well.

The siblings nearly had a heart attack as one ton of Killer Whale-wolf bounded right towards their hiding place. There was no way the Freedom Fighters could miss it. Sukara began circling the tree, flipping onto its belly in the expectation of being rubbed.

Pisqueak let out a laugh. "It's just the Princess's pet. Shame we can't get him to carry these. Sorry boy but we're busy right now. Don't worry, once were done you should be able to enjoy this valley a lot better." Pipsquak let out another laugh at his own joke.

"Honestly I don't know how you can enjoy that thing. Come on, we need to plant the charges by sunset if we want to end the Air Nomad presence in the valley," The Duke said with exasperation.

Katara and Sokka gave a silent prayer of thanks to whatever spirit had made the freedom fighters think that Sukara had been asking for a belly rub from them. The siblings stood perfectly still until they were sure the trio was far away. Sukara whined, having expected a belly rub and finding them doing nothing but standing still as statues. Finally the siblings could no longer hear the heavy footsteps of Pipsqueak, and both let out a breath of air.

"What are they doing?" Asked Katara.

Sokka nodded. "Hmmmmm. Quite a puzzler."

"You have no idea, do you?" Katara replied as she knelt down to deliver Sukara's belly rub.

"Don't be silly, my dear sister. What do we know about the facts?"

"They're using blasting jelly?"

"That's the first. The second is that they don't want us to know, so it's likely something they don't think one of us would approve of. The third is that they think it will liberate the valley."

"And all this means…?"

Sokka scratched his head. "I have no idea. Maybe they plan to blow up an Air Nomad compound or something?"

"But none of us would really object to that."

"Yeah maybe-" Sukara gave a cry of satisfactions as he rolled back onto his feet. "Wait, that's it!" Sokka yelled, pointing to the Whale Wolf.

"What's it?"

"Pipsqueak said that after their plan Sukara would like this valley a lot better, what does Sukara like?"

"Meat?"

Sokka frowned in annoyance. "Besides that?"

Katara stood up. "Water?"

"Exactly, they're plan will make the valley a virtual lake."

"But how-" Katara stopped, realization dawning on her. "The dam! They're going to blow up the dam! We have to tell Azula!"

OoOoOoO

They managed to get back to the base without incident, but one final obstacle remained. "How do we get her away from Jet?" Katara asked as quietly as she could.

"I don't know. You do it." Sokka whispered back.

"Me?"

"Yeah, just claim it's, 'girl talk' or something," Sokka hissed back.

"Hey!" Both siblings jumped as Sneers approached them. "What are you guys talking about?"

"Oh nothing. Just …floods!" Katara said the first thing that came to mind. A look of horror when she realized what she'd said.

"Water! She means the water back home. When the sea rises in a certain way we call it a flood, it's really amazing to see." Sokka desperately covered.

"Really? I've never been to the South Pole. I'd love to hear about it."

Katara decided to exit from the conversation, trusting Sokka's mouth to find something to talk about. She headed over to where Azula and Jet were talking, gently tapping Azula on the shoulder.

"Hmmm, what is it Katara?" Azula asked.

"Azula, could we talk for a second?"

Azula shrugged. "Given I'm still listening…"

Katara looked over to Jet. "I mean alone? Girl-to-girl?"

Azula rolled her eyes. "Jet, could you excuse me a moment?" Azula followed Katara to an empty corner of the tree house. "What is it?"

"It's Jet."

"Oh give it up! I am-"

"He's going to blow up the dam." Katara whispered a loud as possible without crossing the border from 'whispered' to 'said'.

"What?"

"The dam. The wagon didn't contain food. It had something called Blasting Jelly. They're going to blow up the dam and flood the whole valley."

Azula's gave a sigh of exasperation. "You have got to be kidding me. Do you think I would believe such a ridiculous tale? I don't know what's gotten into you-"

"I'm telling the truth. Where do you think the rest of the Freedom Fighters are?"

"Hiding the food."

"…. Well what about the attack?"

"What about it?"

"Why were they so insistent you didn't burn the cart? Or let you open the Barrels?"

"They didn't want the food spoiled"

"They weren't as worried about trees falling on it. Plus, if they've been raiding these before they could afford a few barrels spoiled, just attack another cart." Katara clamped her hands together. "Please Azula, you have to belief me."

Azula's eyes narrowed.

OoOoOo

"Are we there yet?" Azula asked.

"Yeah. The spot I wanted to show you is just over here." Jet said, pointing to the edge of the tree line.

As she walked into view, Azula gave a gasp. They had hiked all the way up the sides of the valley, looking across she could see the sun beginning to dawn, and looking down she could see the entire valley. "It's the perfect place to assess the tactical situation of the valley." She said in the same tone most people would use to say 'it's beautiful'.

"Yeah, but that's not the best part." Jet added.

"Oh?"

"Today's the day this valley is finally cleansed of the Air Nomads."

Azula looked back toward Jet, curious. "How?"

"I'm sorry for not telling you last night but I wasn't sure I could trust you… or your companions. But I think you, at least, would understand. The cart we had last night contained some high grade blasting Jelly. Last night we moved it to the dam. Once I give the signal Longshot will set it off and this entire valley will be cleansed."

"But… why? I thought you wanted to help them?" Azula asked.

"Help them? Help them? Those cowards, who handed themselves over to the Air Nomads? Those cowards? Who hung my father as a bandit? Who forced me and my mother out of the village? No, they can drown like the rats they are!" Jet shouted, fury in his eyes.

Azula sighed. When she next spoke her voice held none of the timidity or questioning it had before, instead filled with only contempt. "So that's it then? Petty revenge? How disappointing."

"Petty? What are you talking about?" Jet asked, completely confused as Azula's sudden change of manner.

"The village hated me, boo hoo I must have my revenge. Now don't get me wrong. Revenge is wonderful and I plan to indulge in it myself, but you can't even think about the larger consequences. Can you?"

"What are you talking about?" Jet yelled.

Azula sighed, and continued in the voice of someone lecturing a very stupid child. "Your plan doesn't take into account the larger world. Sure you've destroyed one town, but what has that really accomplished? The Air Empire is huge, and one little town won't make much of a difference. Plus it's not like you would take out many Air Nomads. As you showed me last night their main base is on the cliffs, not within the town."

Jet pulled out his hook swords, gritting his teeth in anger. "Any damage to the Air Nomads is worth it. Besides it will show people the price of collaborating."

Azula rolled her eyes and shook her head. "My dear Jet, you understand so much, and yet so little. Threats are a wonderful tool. But like any tool they have their time and place. A threat is only good if people think you can carry it out a second time. Otherwise it simply enrages and alienates them. Blowing up the dam would only drive more people into the arms of the Air Nomads. That's the difference between you and me. I look at the big picture, and that's why I can't let you blow up the dam."

"Oh yeah? Just try and stop me!" Jet screamed, charging forward with his hooks swords. Azula dodged his attacks with contemptuous ease, and then thrust a readied fist right in front of his face. Jet stopped, slowly raising his hands above his heads.

"What was that? Something about not being able to stop you?"

Jet grinned. "You still can't." He said, letting out a bird call and looking off into the valley.

Farther down a single flaming arrow was fired, arcing high into the sky before dropping down towards the bottom of the dam. Neither Azula nor Jet spoke for a few seconds. Then, as nothing happened, Azula resumed her earlier smirk.

"What?" Jet asked, dumbfounded.

Azula laughed. "You know it was a shame you didn't double check this morning. If you had you might have found out that the Blasting Jelly was encased in ice last night. Terribly thing, those freak winter weather storms."

"Why you-"

Azula free hand wagged a finger. "Aha ah ah, I'm not done. You see, something else happened last night. The clerk in town had a bit of a break in, though only some paper and ink were taken. Meanwhile the mayor had an anonymous paper shoved under his door, detailing your little plan." Azula turned toward the Air Nomad base, where several figures, no bigger than pinpricks at this distance, were emerging. "And from the looks of things he shared his concerns with the Air Nomads. You know how good their telescopes are, able to spot a single arrow. Those poor dears," Azula looked down to where the arrow had been fired. "Have absolutely no idea what's going on."

"You bit-" Jet lunged forward, but was cut off by a blast from Azula. The blast was modified for force, not heat, knocking Jet off his feet without burning him.

"I'm going to turn around and walk away. You can follow me and try to kill me, or you can save your friends. Your choice."

Jet snarled as Azula began calmly walking away.

OoOoOo

Once Jet was out of sight Azula broke into a run, heading to the spot she told Sokka and Katara to meet her.

"Azula!" Katara cried, waving. "Are you okay?"

Azula rolled her eyes. "I'm fine, but we need to get going, are we all packed?"

Sukara gave a cry and lumbered into view, the various travel supplies tied to its back providing her answer.

"Good. Jet showed me a way to get to the top of the cliffs without being detected, but we need to hurry. The Air Nomads will be distracted for a while, but sooner or later they'll either catch them all or some of Jet's group will get away, and we can't afford to be here when that happens.

OoOoOo

**Author's Note**:"Will the princess and the rebel be able to work together to defeat the Air Nomads?"- Evidently not. (unless you count "live bait" as working together)

Remember folks, never trust my previews. They'll always be factually accurate, but not necessarily in the way you'd first think.

Hopefully there were no Jetzula fans in the audience, if not…. sorry? (I have nothing personal against Jetzula, or any other ship for that matter, just the way the ball bounces)

That said, if anyone curious. Azula did sort of have a crush on Jet at the beginning, but she does not take kindly to being tricked. Hence the rather over the top revenge. (Using him as live bait? Mean, but pragmatic. But sticking the knife in by telling him? And making him choose between getting her and trying to save his friends? Yeah that was just sticking the knife in.)

Again, thanks to all my readers, and reviewers. And a special thanks to everyone who offered constructive criticism. Sorry this chapter took so long, then next one should be up in a week or two (after that…. It might be awhile.)

OoOoO

**Preview:** Picture a castle… or don't. It isn't really grand enough to be called a castle. 'Fort' would be a better term. Though even that may be dignifying it too much, given one wall has fallen down completely, and the rest is in disrepair. It is ancient, built before the unification of the Fire Nation. It has only recently been re-inhabited.

If someone were to stand in the center of the fort they would find it empty. The only things decorating the courtyard are a collection of targets opposite the destroyed wall. Examining these targets one would find two things odd about them… assuming the examiner were native to the world.

The first is that the targets were archery targets. The bow and arrow is all but dead… or more accurately stillborn. Benders can deliver ranges attack, but no archer can create walls in seconds. No archer can fly from one battle to the other. No archer can make his bow send a continuous stream of arrows, or heal his comrades with it.

The second odd thing is the inaccuracy of the arrows. While there are a few bull's-eyes here and there, the arrows are mostly strewn around the targets, hitting them, but not near the center. Because of the rarity of the bow, those who do use it tend to be supremely accurate. Only an elite force would bother with it. While everyone must start somewhere, almost all of them are trained from childhood and by the time they would participate in formal practice, all of them could hit the center nine times out of ten.

If one were to continue standing there one would hope to either be very lucky or very observant, because a volley or arrows would soon come towards the targets. Assuming one didn't get killed by the arrows they might wonder where they came from. The walls seem the obvious choice, but while there are people on them, all are facing outward, watching for attacks.

One might then walk outside through the broken wall, thinking perhaps the archers were far away, thus explaining the inaccuracy. Again one would find nothing, no matter how far one's eyes could see. The ears, on the other hand….

The sound of strings being drawn back might cause someone to turn their head to the left, and only then would they finally find the archers. The first thing they would notice would be the clothes, black robes. The second would probably be the bow. The final thing, if someone had good enough eyesight, might be the fact that they were all female.

One of them, off to the side, would give a small signal and the arrows would fly. Most people would duck, or close their eyes, but if someone were very brave(or very stupid) and wished to stare death in the face, they might turn to face the arrows. If they did they would see something extraordinary, as the arrows streaked forward they would begin to turn in_ midflight_, heading into the fortress and striking the targets.

Ultimately, however, our story is not concerned with these women… at least not directly, and not right now. Rather it is concerned with two figures on the wall. It should be night, that's the best time to hold conversations such as these; secret, dramatic and tense. Dawn or dusk would at least have some symbolism, or even high noon. But unfortunately, neither the world, nor the figures cares about proper dramatic lighting, and thus it is merely a slightly cloudy morning, possibly one of the most boring backgrounds in existence.

If one were a poet, and thought oneself very clever by comparing figures to the element they bend, one might compare the first figure to the Northern wind; stern, cold, ancient and deadly. The second figure might be compared to a gentle breeze, warm, calm and rather unassuming. Though perhaps a better, or at least more accurate, comparison might be the calm before the storm, or eye of the hurricane.

"Hmmmm, Malu, it is always a pleasure to see such an honored elder."

"Quite, Jamayang. I have no need of your honeyed tongue."

Jamayang sighed; this was not going to be easy. "Very well. I wish to ask for you help-"

"No."

"I haven't even-"

"I know what you're going to ask. I'm one of the head monks of the Western Air Temple."

"The 'Western Air Temple', of course. I meant no disrespect. Please reconsider, the Xuan Feng could be a great help-"

"You can continue your little hunt, but I'm not interested in her. We have real work."

"Hmmmm, really? I was under the impression that the Fire Nation was our ally now… Am I mistaken?"

"Please, that incompetent puppet can barely control his own city, let alone the Nation. Now go." Malu turned around and began walking.

Jamayang stood there for a few moments. Then, like a man revealing his wheel tile was in a position to capture someone's boat, he spoke. "So you're saying you don't want to help capture princess Azula?"

She stopped. Slowly, Malu began turning around, "I'll consider it."

"Just remember, capture, not kill. No 'accidental' misfired arrows."

Malu's eye's narrowed. "I didn't say we were coming."

Jamayang smiled. "Of course not, my mistake."


	12. Imprisoned

_I was trying to wait a week to post this, but I'm weak._

_OoOoOoO_

**A brief History of the Rise and Fall of the Air Empire**

Excerpt from Chapter 2

The Xuan Feng can be seen as the Air Nomads of the time in a microcosm; an extreme microcosm, in both circumstance and reaction to be sure, but a microcosm nonetheless. Before people who think of the Air Nomads as more than simple two-dimensional "bad guys" throw this book away in disgust at that assertion, please allow me to clarify. The ancient Xuan Feng had nothing to do with the current terrorist organization, aside from one being named after the other. The ancient Xuan Feng disbanded shortly after the fall of the Empire, and the modern one arose only within the last century. Nor do they share methods, as the modern Xuan Feng are bi-gender, and employ bombing and civilian assassination, tactics that would have been considered reprehensible to the ancient Xuan Feng.

To understand the Xuan Feng one must take a look at their origins. Fire Lord Sozin's plan to wipe out the Air Nomads in order to destroy the Avatar had one noticeable problem: He didn't know which temple the Avatar resided, and the comet only lasted a few hours. His solution was to dispatch two separate fleets, one to the North and one to the South, both would begin their assault as soon as the comet's power began, and burn the temples to the ground before meeting up to destroy the Eastern Temple.

The Western Temple was unique as it lay within the Fire Nation and as such Sozin had full plans of the lay of the land, and was able to scout it well in advance. Instead of using firebenders, who were needed for the fleets, Sozin choose to use mundane troops on the Temple. Since the temple accessible by land he could use his entire army. The spear-point of the invasion were the legendary Yu-Yan archers.

Unlike the other temples, the Western Temple invasion was nearly a total success. The nuns were caught completely by surprise and quickly cut down. The only people to survive the massacre were children from about 10-16. Any younger and they weren't able to fly on their own, the air-bison were one of the first targeted. Any older and they stayed to help defend the temple.

Even among those who did flee, the casualty rate was horrid. Of the original 10,000 inhabitants of the Western Temple, less than 500 survived. Had Sozin's plan been successful, it is likely they too would have been quickly hunted down and killed off. As it was, a rescue force of Air Nomads from the other temples flew into the Fire Nation, looking for survivors.

The Air Nomads were unsure of what to do with the refugees. It was eventually decided that they would be incorporated into the Eastern Temple, both because it was also all-female and it was the only temple to have suffered no structural damage. The girls did not incorporate well. Writings from the nuns of the temple indicate that the girls would often keep their own counsel, talking freely only among themselves, and had little respect for the elders of the temple.

While all the Air Nomads rethought the principles of pacifism in the years following the attack, none rejected it more completely then the survivors of the Western Air Temple. When the call came to help liberate the Fire Nation colonies in the Earth Kingdom, the survivors of the Western Air Temple eagerly responded. It was during these conflicts that the Xuan Feng were truly born. According to legend, one of the survivors had a vision that lead them to an abandoned supply based filled with the bows and arrows of the Yu Yan. Asserting the truth of this legend is difficult, the earliest it appears in writing is 1150, nearly fifteen years after the fact. However the Western Air Temple survivors were notorious secretive. Regardless, actual use of the combat bow did not noticeably appear until 1155.

After the Fire Nation was driven out of the Earth Kingdom mainland, those who would become the Xuan Feng left the Eastern Air Temple, relocating to the abandoned Western Temple. Many feared that they would be attacked, and the other temples, as well as Avatar Aang, spoke against the action. Nonetheless they were insistent that it was their real home, and they would return to it. Ultimately the other temples could do nothing about it without resorting to force, and so decided to let the matter sit.

The Xuan Feng proper were formed in 1165, after Azulon's attack. Azulon hoped to repeat his father's stunning success at the Western Air Temple. Unlike his predecessor, he assigned only a small contingent of Yu-Yan; both because of the small number of inhabitants and because he needed most of his forces for the eastern counter-offense.

What Azulon failed to grasp was that the situation was very different this time. The survivors knew they were under threat, and had kept a network of scouts prepared. Therefore, they were well informed when the Yu-Yan came. Furthermore, though many choose to live within the temple, they had made sure that all their children were safely hidden in a section of caves far away from the temple, meaning they didn't have to stay and fight.

The Xuan Feng drew the attackers into the temple, quickly retreating further and further back. The Yu Yan were completely taken in by the gambit. Once all the Yu Yan were lured into the proper section of the temple the trap was sprung. Most of the Air Nomads retreated, leaving on a few behind. Those who stayed set off several barrels of blasting jelly near one of the main support columns. This action caused that section of the Air Temple to fall into the cavern below, taking the entire Yu-Yan strike force with it. This battle marked the beginning of the Xuan Feng, and beginning of the end for the Yu-Yan.

**Avatar: Last Firebender**

**Book 1, Chapter 12**

**Imprisoned**

"Uggh!" Azula made a sound of disgust as she picked up the frozen frog, holding it as far away from her as she could before stuffing it in her satchel. This had not been a good day. The idiots had had the nerve to get sick! _Sick_! She'd had to sneak into town without being seen, then had to deal with the crazy lady and her crazy cat. Now she was stuck out here, in this disgusting swamp, in the rain, picking up frozen frogs! She hoped they appreciated what she was going through. When she got back they were going to pay for making her go through all this.

The splash was barely louder than the sound of raindrops around her, but Azula hadn't managed to evade capture for so long because she was unobservant. She stood up, looking around for the source of the noise. This action saved her as two arrows flew in front of her, landing right where her arms had been not a moment earlier.

Azula looked around in alarm; more arrows were flying towards her from multiple directions. Ducking and weaving through the storm of arrows, she tried to spot her attackers. Finally she managed to see a bit of blackness jumping down along the canyon walls, confirming what she'd already suspected. It was the Xuan Feng.

If Azula had less control she might have sworn, but that would have wasted breath, something no firebender could afford. She sent a few fireballs towards the air archers, hoping to catch them in midair. Since they had to concentrate on slowing their decent they wouldn't be able to blow away her attacks. A few shrieks let her know she had gotten some, but she was forced to retreat under another hail of arrows.

Azula tried to get in a few more shots as she ran, but the nuns were wary now. Using their superior numbers, they kept up a steady stream of arrows, forcing her to concentrate on dodging. Azula headed south, hoping to lose them in the forest.

Her plan was dashed as several arrows streaked past her, and then with a whoosh of air curved around to come at her head-on. Azula tried to double back, but saw a second volley of arrow coming at her from that direction as well. Stopping where she was, Azula spun around, releasing a dome of fire which burned the arrows away.

An airbender would have used the distraction to make a break for the forest. Azula was not an Air Bender, but she knew how they thought. Holding her ground, she began to charge up two blasts of fire. Her strategy was rewarded as she heard several arrows strike the ground behind her, having been intended to cut off her retreat. Azula launched a burst of fire from each fist; the small balls of fire streaked forward, exploding as they hit the ground the Air Nomads had been standing on not a moment earlier.

Azula made use of the second distraction to make a break for the forest, she may have been a firebender, but unlike many she wasn't stupid enough to fight the battles she couldn't win. The Xuan Feng were too distracted making sure all their limbs were attached and unburnt to stop her. As she passed into the tree line Azula summoned up a stream of fire, burning the trees near her to give herself cover. The rain made it somewhat harder, but Azula's flame wasn't blue for nothing.

Just as Azula was thought she had made it, disaster struck. A single arrow made it past the wall of fire, striking Azula's left hand dead on. She gave a cry of pain and clutched her hand. The delay was enough for two more arrows to streak by, pinning her sleeves to the nearest tree. Azula desperately tried to pull them out, but with only one hand working she couldn't possibly remove the arrows pinning her faster than the Xuan Feng could shoot them.

OoOoO

The cell was well made. The Earth Kingdom fortress they were using as a base had been built in the wake of the early Fire Nation intrusions, though it was now long abandoned. The cell had been specifically designed to hold firebenders. It was made completely of stone. Originally, there had been no door, access was only granted by earthbending. However, the fortress had been so long abandoned that one wall had holes in it, and a makeshift 'door' composed of extra armor plating from one of Zhao's ships had been put in its place. Zhao hadn't been happy, but when it had been pointed out that the only alternative was a _burnable_ wooden door, and the amount wasn't even enough to cover half of his smallest ship, he'd readily conceded.

The cell had several small holes at the top, which allowed someone to observe the prisoner without being seen, or pour water down if they got to unruly. Apparently the original commander of the forces had found it hilarious to pour oil onto the firebenders and watch as the killed themselves when they tried to blast him, only to set the oil on fire.

Jamayang frowned as he looked inside before turning back to the assembled leaders. "I thought I asked you not to harm her?"

Malu rolled her eyes. "You said capture, not kill. She's alive isn't she? Besides, this way she won't be able to escape."

Jamayang's frowned deepened, he looked ready to say something back, but then gave a sigh. "I highly doubt she'd going to escape with her arms and legs chained together," he muttered. Raising his voice,. "What about the others?"

Malu shrugged. "Weren't with her."

"And you checked?" Jamayang's voice dripped with annoyance.

"Quite thoroughly. They were nowhere near her, so don't go blaming us. The only thing we found was the pouch."

"Ah yes." Jamayang pulled out the pouch. "Frozen… frogs," he said, pulling out the encased amphibians. "Does anyone have any idea what she was doing with these?"

"I might." Hama spoke up. "I think I might have seen an illustration of them somewhere in 'Exotic medical plants and animals of the Western Earth Kingdom'. I can't quite remember where, so I'd have to look it up."

"Right. Well then I would like to have a chat with Princess Azula. Hama, I'd ask that you please come with me, just to check the bandaging on the wound and make sure it isn't infected and going to kill her." Despite being a request for Hama, everyone one could feel the majority of the comment was directed at Malu, who merely scoffed. "Malu, post your women at the defenses, I don't want her friends planning a rescue. And shoot to trap, not wound."

Malu rolled her eyes with contempt as she exited the room. Jamayang and Hama followed her, heading down the stairs . Zhao waited till he was sure they were far enough away, then gave a yell of frustration as he kicked the desk Jamayang had been sitting at across the room. It wasn't fair, _he_ was supposed to capture Azula. It was his chance, his mission! Now the Air Nomads, worse, the _Xuan Feng_, had just done it like it was nothing. It made his blood boil. He had been nothing in that meeting, nothing!

OoOoO

Azula lay against the wall of the cell, lost in thought. How could she have let herself be so distracted by one arrow? If she had just ran she would have made it. Part of it was the nature of the pain, she was used to heat and blunt force, but actual piercing weapons was something she hadn't really experienced. Still, that was no excuse. It had been such a stupid oversight. She had known about the Xuan Feng…. It was so idiotic not to have trained herself for this.

The heavy iron groaned as it was moved open. Azula looked up as two people entered the room, the first was the old waterbender from Lu Ying Port, the second was an unknown monk. Azula looked closer as she saw the medallion on his neck. "A head monk? Come all this way just for me? I suppose you're here to thank me, after all you wouldn't be wearing that medallion if I hadn't killed Tsering."

The man sighed and shook his head. "That will not work." The confusion must have shown on her face, because he continued. "You are trying to annoy me, or perhaps intimidate me. Now then, I have a few things I would like to discuss with you, Princess Azula."

"Such as?"

"Your cooperation."

Azula laughed. "Oh that's a good one. Sorry monky but I'm not a Jackal-hog like Zhao. I won't betray my country."

"But I am not asking you to betray your country, I am asking you to help it."

Azula turned her head."Oh?"

The man continued encouraged by Azula's display of curiosity. "Please be realistic. The Fire Nation is beaten. To continue this war would be pointless, and would only hurt your country more. We do not wish to fight you, we just want peace. Several of the nobles and generals of your nation have already seen this. Yet some remain defiant. As a member of the royal family, you have become one of the rallying points. If you were to encourage your people to lay down their arms…" Jamayang crouched down, looking at Azula face to face and smiling.

Azula smiled back, and blew the strongest fire she could strait at him. For a second she had thought it worked, but then the fire turned back towards her, had she not been so well trained it would have probably killed her, as it was she was merely forced to stop and hope her hair hadn't been set on fire. As she stopped, burning heat was replaced by a powerful wind.

The monk stopped blowing and gave a rather unusual hum. More like something one would expect out of a flute than a real person. "Hmmmmm. You are not the only one with strong lungs, Princess Azula. You're cooperation would help, but is not truly necessary. I suspect you will feel differently once we arrive at the capital, but that is not my place. Now then, Hama is going to heal your hand. I would highly recommend against trying to burn her. You won't succeed, and while she will still heal you, she can make it… very painful."

The old woman gave him a look of confusion. "Jamayang? Are you sure? After what she just tried… I've seen her at the docks. She's not to be underestimated."

"She's in chains, in a cell in a fortress full of guards as well as ourselves, Zhao, and Malu. I highly doubt she will be going anywhere we do not wish. Plus is would be rather embarrassing to capture her only to have her die of an infected wound, would it not? Hmmmmm."

"Fine." Hama crouched down. "Give me your hand."

Azula considered struggling, but decided against it. It would be ineffective, and having a functioning hand wouldn't do her any harm. Azula had spent enough time up north to know that legends about healers being able to take control of anyone they healed were just that, legends.

"Hmmmmm." Azula was really getting to dislike that sound. "Now that you are being more cooperative, perhaps you can tell me what happened to your friends."

Azula gave small gasp, then spoke, carefully keeping her best 'sarcastic' tone, avoiding letting any note of hope enter her voice. "How should I know? The last time I saw them they were fighting at the capital."

Jamayang cocked his head. "Huh? Oh! Them…" Jamayang trailed off, clearly uncomfortable. "No, no I wasn't talking about them. I meant the others, Katara and the Water Tribe boy… Sukka, I believe?"

Azula rolled her eyes. "What about them?"

"Where are they, and when are they coming?"

Azula laughed. "You're worried about Katara and Sokka?"

The man sighed. "Please, princess Azula. I am not foolish. The girl has shown tremendous power. Carrying a ship's wreckage to shore, nearly tearing up the docks in a battle. I am not foolish enough to leave such a dangerous factor unattended. I would rather not wake up to find a tidal wave bearing on to me."

Azula smirked. "And just why would I tell you?"

"Well I assume you have some concern for your friends. If I knew where they were coming, we could capture them without killing, but if I don't… then the only safe thing is to have the Xuan Feng shoot anyone who comes close…."

Azula couldn't take it anymore, and burst into hysterics. It was just too funny. Not only was this monk worried about a nearly untrained waterbender, but Azula could actually see his point. And the real joke was that Katara not only couldn't rescue her, but if she and Sokka had been well enough, Azula never would have been here in the first place.

Jamayang look at the laughing princess, and gave a sigh. "Very well. Hama, is she healed?"

Hama grunted, struggling to hold down the hand as the rest of the body shook in laughter. "One second I've almost finished bandaging her hand. The damage wasn't that bad, but it won't be fully healed for another day or two.

OoOoOoO

"Senge?"

"Yes? Jamayang?"

"Prepare the rest of the monks, I want you to lead and organize patrols out into the woods to look for Azula's missing companions. Check by the beach and rivers, and keep an eye out for the Whale-Wolf. It's probably the easiest thing to spot."

Senge nodded.

OoOoOoO

Azula concentrated. She had laid her good hand to the chains connecting the cuffs, and was now trying to heat them up enough to melt them. The small section she had chosen was already beginning to glow red, and Azula could feel the heat pouring off it.

The 'door' of the cell began to open with a groan. Instantly Azula reversed her attempt, bending heat away from the chain as fast as possible and hoping it wasn't noticed.

Zhao smugly walked in. "Well princess, enjoying your… accommodations?"

Azula's eye darkened. "Mostly, though I can't say much for the company. On the other hand I'm glad that I was at least caught by someone _competent_."

"Watch your tongue, _princess_ or it might get burnt."

Azula gave a sneer of distance, packing both her own experiences and generations of her ancestors looking down on people into one expression. "Please, if you lay so much as a finger on me you'll have to answer to your Air Nomad master."

Zhao snorted a small bit of fire, and then stopped, giving a small chuckle. "Tell me princess, would you like to see your father?"

Azula couldn't help herself. "My father, he's alive? Where is he? Tell me!"

Zhao laughed. "I didn't say that, but don't worry, you'll be meeting him soon enough." Zhao began to walk out the door, chuckling, but just as he was leaving, he turned to deliver one last insult. "By the way, don't bother trying to melt the cuffs, it won't work. They were specially made to resist firebenders."

Azula gritted her teeth as the door closed once again. Carefully, she listened as Zhao's footsteps grew further and further away. Once she could no longer hear them she turned to the chain and began heating it up again. It may have been built to resist ordinary firebenders, but that didn't mean it could resist her.

OoOoOo

Hama stood as the edge of the bison, watching as the Air Nomads heading to the Southern Air Temple began to get on board.

Jamayang sighed. "I am sorry to see you go."

Hama shrugged. "Not much I can do now you've actually captured the Princess."

"Hmmmm. Yes, but her friends are still out there, and you'd be a great help in stopping the waterbender."

Hama looked at him in confusion. "Huh, didn't I tell you? They won't be coming."

Jamayang twisted his head. "Why ever not?"

"The frogs Azula had. I found the page they were on. Frozen wood frogs are used as a cure for a disease known as 'coughing insanity', that leaves the user helpless."

"I see…. And if they don't get the cure?"

"Death. Not nice, but it's not like we can do anything unless she tells us where they are." Hama shrugged; death wasn't uncommon in the Southern Pole.

Jamayang nodded, looking somewhat uncomfortable. "This disease, is it common?"

Hama shrugged "Not really, it only appears in wet swampy areas. The same place the frogs hang out, kind of lucky, that."

"Right… Hama do you think you could do me one last favor, before you go?"

"What is it?"

Jamayang held out the frogs. "Could you refreeze these frogs? I'd like to have some on hand in case the princess… or someone else, comes down with it."

OoOoOo

Sweet dripped off Azula, the room was a sauna, even for a firebender. She didn't know how long she'd been at this, but day had turned to night, and the only light in the room was the red glow of the chain link she'd been heating up.

"Arrrgh" Azula pulled her hand away in frustration. The heat had become too much for even _her_ to take. For a long time Azula sat there, trying to think of what to do, of some way to get out of the situation.

Clink.

Azula eyes flickered to the source of the sound. In the middle of the cell something gleamed, reflecting the fading light of the heated chain. Azula walked over to it, crouching down she formed a small flame with her right hand and held it close to the object.

It was a key.

Azula looked up, increasing the size of her flame. Concentrating, she could make out the peep holes in the roof. She gave a growl of frustration; that was something else she had missed, they could have seen her trying to melt her chains this entire time and she would have had no idea. Still, wasn't like she could do anything now.

Suspiciously, Azula picked up the key and compared it to the locks on her chains, it seemed about right. She bent down, unlocking the heavy iron shackles. They slid off easily. Next she bent down further, keeping her chains as low to the ground as possible, so as not to have them make a sound when they fell off.

Azula gratefully began stretching her arms and legs. She went through a few basic kata's as best she could, restrained both by the need to keep silent and the inherent limitations of space. Her legs and right hand were fine, but her left hand was still too injured to properly bend. Azula would just have to do without it. Given the time of day Azula couldn't rely on anymore visitors coming. If she waited till morning she would either be at a disadvantage from having stayed awake the entire night or risk someone coming in while she slept and finding out.

Azula walked up to the 'door'. Looking at it closely she could see that it wasn't actually attached to the walls. Zhao's men had just laid the piece on the walls, relying on its own weight and her chains to hold her in. Azula smiled. Putting her hand against the top of the metal she began charging up the largest blast she could, branching her feet against the floor. With an almightily "BOOM!" Azula released the burst of fire. She was driven back, but more important the charge blasted the top of the door outward, causing it to fall forward and crush the guards with a sickening crunch.

Azula jumped out, preparing herself for the inevitable horde of guards that were to come. It was several tense seconds before two turned the corner, instantly Azula shot a blast of fire forth, incinerating them before they knew what happened. Azula took off at a run, staying where she was would only bring more.

OoOoOo

Azula crept through the fortress, ducking behind alcoves and occasionally jumping into the rafters, when they hadn't fallen down from disuse, to avoid the guards. She'd managed to avoid detection so far, but she didn't like it, it felt wrong. The guards were just patrolling, not specifically looking like they should have been. There was no way that her escape hadn't been noticed, the door falling had been _loud_. Yet no one seemed to be acting like it, it felt too much like Bumi's fortress. Only the fact that she could occasionally see outside to get her bearings and the presence of guards reassured her that this wasn't just some sick game.

Crawling along the rafters Azula found what she was looking for; an opening to the forest. One of the alcoves had a hole just large enough for Azula to squeeze through. Every minute or so a pair of guards, passed by the intersection, she could have just killed them, but didn't want people to know where in the fortress she had escaped from. Azula waited, studying them until she was sure they were at their furthest point, and jumped down. Heading to the window, she looked out towards the forest, trying to judge the best landing spot. As she did she noticed a small brown bag hanging over the side. Someone had tied a rope to it, looking up Azula could see the other end was tied to the roof somewhere. Curiosity overtaking her, Azula burnt the rope holding it and opened it.

Inside were two frozen frogs.

Only iron self-control prevented Azula from yelling out in surprise. Suspiciously, she peeked out the hole, looking upward to the top of the fortress, hoping to maybe catch a glimpse of her mysterious benefactor, but had no luck. Azula hated charity from an unknown source. To be fair, she hated charity in general, but not knowing who or why was even worse.

Perhaps it was from some loyal Fire Nation solider. That would make sense. After all, just because Zhao was a traitor didn't mean everyone in his fleet was. Outspoken fools would have died early, but those with a bit brains would have waited, realizing that objecting then would have been stupid beyond belief. Yes… that added up. She would have to remember not to execute the entire fleet when she finally defeated Zhao.

Several shouts drew her attention back to the fortress. It was time to go, squeezing through the small opening; she jumped down and headed off into the forest.

OoOoOoOo

"I'm sorry Zhao, but I promise we will begin our pursuit at first light." Jamayang answered.

Zhao stormed out of the room, growling at Malu as they passed by each other.

"Ah Malu, I assumed you have something to say about the escape as well?" Jamayang smiled, as Zhao slammed the door behind him.

"I know it was you."

"I'm sorry, what do you mean?"

"Quit your games, we both know it was you. You purposefully let Azula go!"

"Hmmmm. I would not be so quick to make that assertion, Malu. Throwing around wild accusations would create disharmony."

Malu tightened her fists on her bow. "I'll have you known as a traitor."

"Hmmm. Really? How? Why don't we agree to some neutral aberration? I'll explain my version of events and reasons to a jury of head monks from the various temples, and you'll do the same. Then we'll allow them to decide."

Malu gritted her teeth, knowing the judgment would favor Jamayang. "…. Fine. We are going to hunt Azula. Unlike you, we don't need to wait until dawn."

Jamayang shook his head. "Hmmmm. No, no I don't think you will."

"What!?"

"I think it is best if the Xuan Feng head back to the Fire Nation, where you are truly needed. The forces we have are enough, and we wouldn't want an arrow to 'slip', now would we?"

"You are not going to stop us!" Malu lifted her bow, pointing an arrow directly at Jamayang.

Jamayang sighed. "I was hoping it would come to this." Jamayang barely seemed to move, but all of a sudden Malu felt it, she couldn't breathe. "I'd advise you to put your bow down."

Malu tried to snarl in defiance, but found that exhaling air was as impossible as inhaling. Instead she shot an arrow at Jamayang, hoping to hit him enough to disrupt whatever he was doing. Jamayang simply blew the arrow away.

"I was hoping you'd be a bit more reasonable. Don't bother trying to pound the table to attract attention. I'm using the same technique on the air near the walls. It's a fascinating airbending move, almost the very anti-thesis of everything we think of. Instead of movement, it focuses on a lack of movement, holding the air in place. This has a couple of interesting effects, obviously if used near a person it can keep them from breathing, but it also prevents sound from moving through the space, as sound is merely a kind of movement in the air. It's difficult, as one must keep one's hand perfectly still, but I always did have far more control than power." Jamayang stopped, seemingly noticing Malu was on the floor, close to passing out. He moved his hands, and instantly she began drawing in grateful breaths of air.

Finally after several second she had recovered enough to speak. "You won't… my temple.... won't stand… for this," she wheezed out.

"Your 'temple' consists of barely 500 members. And do you know why?" Jamayang answered.

"The Fire Nation."

"Wrong. The Northern Temple had half their members killed, yet now they're at their highest in recorded history. You haven't grown at all. You're continued feud the Fire Nation and inability to forget the past with has sapped your strength and ensured you never grow. It's been a hundred years, and you, the oldest member of the temple, were only just born at the time. No one remembers, yet you still insist on fighting. The other temples fight, but only because we recognize the necessity of stopping the Fire Nation before the next comet, not for revenge for something that happened a hundred years ago. When the capital fell, even the Easter Air Temple was able to send more people than you, and they are on the other side of the world."

Jamayang crouched down towards Malu. "Hmmmmm. Ultimately Malu, you need the other temples to fight the Fire Nation, but we do not need you."

OoOoOo

**Author's notes**: So I wonder who Azula mysterious helper is?... Okay stupid question, better question-

Just what the hell is Jamayang up to? Feel free to PM me with a guess, I'll tell you if you get it right.

Also, thoughts on the Xuan Feng? Like, hate, indifferent? Fun fact, the name was gotten by entering in "whirlwind" to an online, pinyin-English translator and combining the two words I got out. "So the wind, reap the whirlwind." Figured it was an appropriate name for a vengeance based Air Nomad organization.

Those of you with good memories should recognize "Exotic medical plants and animals of the Western Earth Kingdom" from chapter 8.

Also just to give a heads up, the next chapter will not be for awhile. I've got a lot of stuff piling up in RL so it will probably be a month or more.

And as always, a big thank you to my beta-reader, avocadolove as well as everyone who reviewed.

**Preview**: Continuing the pursuit of Azula, Jamayang hires the bounty hunter June to track her down. Though they manage to escape, June's pursuit is relentless, as the night drags on and lack of sleep takes hold, friendships begin to fray as lies and tensions that have been boiling below the surface come to light. Will they be able to survive the bounty hunter and each other in **The Chase**?

**Shorts:**  
Chibi-Jamayang turned toward the 'Hammer of Agni'. Finally he spoke. "Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed. The ability to destroy a fleet is insignificant next to the power of the spirits."

Lil-Zhao rolled his eyes. "Don't try to frighten us with your sorcerers ways, Jamayang. Your sad devotion to that ancient religion has not helped you conjure up the princess, or given you clairvoyance enough to track her movements-" Lil-Zhao was cut off as he began turning blue.

Chibi-Jamayang spoke slowly. "I find your lack of faith…. disturbing."


	13. The Great Divide

11/12/75

Office of the Magister, Omashu

Dear Honored Magister,

I feel it is my duty as a loyal citizen to inform you that the communists are once again stealing things from hard working citizens of Omashu. In order to commemorate the 550th anniversary of the end of the hundreds year war, we ran a series of articles on the war from multiple perspective authors. The communists, never satisfied to produce their own work, have stolen these articles.

I have enclosed this example: the original article was a quiz written by Professor Yve, demonstrating how fiction shapes our perspectives of people. The only parts changed were that the communists added some of their vile propaganda at the beginning, and removed all titles, (Fire Lord, Avatar etc) in their constant attempts to remove greatness from every man. The original article is in our September addition located in the city archives. I have removed the preface, as it is nothing but vile communist propaganda, and have merely taken the copied quiz.

_Try to see if the quotes here and try to identify the sources. Are the true quotes from the real figures, or merely elaborate fiction?_

_1) Our vaunted technology has failed us, our armies are brave and skilled, but cannot catch them, even the spirits refuse to help, angry for our arrogance. Now I go to face the Avatar, I cannot win, but perhaps my sacrifice will please either the spirits, the Avatar, or the Nomads.- Iroh_

_2) Thank you oh noble captain Ji. For saving me from those horrible Air Nomads. You bravery knows no bounds.- Azula_

_3) So, you thought you could trick old Bumi eh? You thought I was a senile old man eh?. Well I guess you were right. -Bumi_

_4)I dream, Katara. I dream of a united Water Tribe. Do you understand? We are warriors, the greatest on the seas. Even with their ships of Iron, the Fire Nation could not take us, even with their immpentrable temples, and soaring flyers, the Air Nomads could not break us. We own the seas. So instead they have kept us divided and weak, fighting like Jackal-wolvesamong our selves for a few scraps. I wish to see us great.-Sokka_

_5)We are all to blame. No nation stands innocent, all are guilty.-Katara_

_6)Father! Don't you understand? What have the Air Nomads done for us? You say order, what order have the brought that we could not bring ourselves? They take the toil of our lands, the rice from our fields, and what do they give? Sermons on civilizing us and troops to beat us down. We are the earth Kingdom, we were the first to build cities and walls, why do we let others talk of civilization?- Xi chang_

_7) THIS WHOLE STINKING CITY MUST SERVE AS HER PYRE!- Azula_

_8)The time at the North Pole was either my third or fourth. The first time was amazing, I've never experienced anything like it, but the second and third were kind of let downs. It was over before knew it. _

Answers

1-True- "Memories of Lu Ten" records it as Iroh's last words.

2-False- "Rebirth of the Fire Nation"

3-True-Multiple witness accounts,

4-False- "Rising Tide"

5-True- Multiple witness accounts

6-False- "The Divided earth" – this is also the only one that is said by a completely fiction character as well

7-True- certified by Sokka's account

8-False "The Avatar's Journey"

~ Zu Chang

Chief Editor of "Omashu Times"

**Avatar Last Firebender**

**Book 1, Chapter 13**

**The Great Divide**

Azula had had enough. "THAT'S IT!" she shouted. The two arguing groups stared at her for a few second before falling back into sniping. Azula held up her hand, conjuring two blasts of flame and throwing them near the feet of the leaders. "Do I have your attention now? Good."

"You can't-" the Zhang leader began, but stopped when Azula summoned another blast of flame at his feet.

"I can. Now then, this" Azula pointed to Sukara, "is a killer-Whale Wolf. Since I'd hate for all the food to simply go to waste, in thirty seconds I'm going to give him permission to eat all the food here, and if you're still carrying some…. well accidents happen."

Sukara walked over the Gan-Jin leader and made a small whining sound.

"Oh yes," Azula continued. "I almost forgot. Since he doesn't eat plant matter, I will be burning any fruits or vegetables, regardless of whether or not they are on your person."

Later on, Sokka would remark on how the canyon trip was "Rreally dull". Meanwhile the Zhang and Gai-Jin tribes would continue to hate each other. Both settled in the same province and the Gai-Jin would become wealthy, getting high government positions and generally lording it over the poorer Zhang. At least until 1333 when a general revolution would break out, and the Zhang took the opportunity to slaughter the Gai-Jin in one of the first recorded acts of successful genocide.

Isn't that nice?

OoOoOoOo

**Author's notes**: So best chapter ever, or best chapter EVAR? The next chapter might take a little while but before that I've got to tell you about two awesome and TOTALLY ORGINAL ideas I have.

The first is called "Reality Distorted" and instead of switching the Air Nomad's and Fire Nation, it switches the Fire nation and Water Tribe. Plus Aang traveling back from the canon- verse, so he's bringing all his biases with him. It's gonna be awesome.

The second is called "A Second Brother" and it's about an AU, where Zuko end up joining the Water Tribe as Sokka and Katara's adopted sibling, which has long reaching effects on them and the world at large.

Before you lynch me, check the date.

April Fools

**Author's notes, non-foolishly**: This scenario has been running through my head for awhile. I was originally considering tacking it on as a "fake" chapter before the real one, but before I got around to it I realized April 1st was coming up and I just had to.

The "pre-article" can be considered real. The only reason I did the "communist" thing was I didn't want to give away spoilers regarding things like "who becomes Fire Lord" or "does Sokka become chief" as any title would tell you if they did or didn' a few of those quotes are going to show up, any guesses as to where?


	14. The Chase

Edit: IMPORTANT- One reader just pointied out a rather serious typo, if you didn't see this message before, re-read the "Preview" section.

Sorry this took so long, but my life got real sidetracked. Hopefully I should be updating more regularly, but that's really up in the air at this point. Also a big thank you to Chaos Sparta, for going back and pointing out numerous errors I made. He also pointed out that I ended up changing Jamyang's name to Jamayang. Just to clarify, the orginal was correct, and I've kept it as Jamyang for this chapter (previous ones will be corrected over the next week.)

**The Rise and Fall of the Air Nomad Empire**

If the Xuan Feng can be considered as the Air Nomads in a microcosm, then the battle between them and the Yu Yan can be seen as a metaphor for the greater war between the Air Nomads and the Fire Nation. With the failure of Azulon's counter-offensive, the war began in earnest, with the Air Nomads actively pushing onto Fire Nation soil, and the Yu Yan being hunted by the Xuan Feng.

After the Western Air Temple Trap the approximate fighting force of the Yu Yan stood at around 1500, and the Xuan Feng at 750. This did not include the numerous Firebenders, siege engine crews and ordinary solders that were also stationed in the Eastern provinces of the Fire Nation, where most of the fighting (between the two groups) took place. These numbers echo the 3:1 Fire to Air bender ratio commonly cited (which again does not take into account the non-benders). Combined with the earlier mentioned reluctance of Avatar Aang to interfere, it leaves a very serious question:. How did the Xuan Feng and the Air Nomads win? How did the smallest nation, take on the largest (the Earth kingdoms were not unified at the time) and most technologically advanced and still manage to come out on top?

**Superior one on one combat ability**

The main point of disputation revolves around the ability of the Yu Yan archers. Some argue that the Yu Yan of the time period were better in "pure" archery, able to pin the wings of a fly without killing it. Other historians claim this is mere hyperbole and Fire Nation propaganda of the time. The counter argument is that these claims are repeated by other sources, both Earth Kingdom and Air Nomad. The counter-counter argument is that the claims are too widely repeated, and too similar; historians were merely copying previous texts.

Regardless, the debate about pure archery is rather pointless in context of an actual war. Both sides were good enough to kill with one arrow, could kill anything within shooting range, beyond that it really didn't matter. What does matter is the advantage Air Bending gave the Xuan Feng. Not only did it allow them to deflect the arrows of the Yu Yan and readjust their own after the shot, but also gave a hoard of other useful tricks. One of the more famous is the ability to fire their arrows around corners and walls. While the lack of sight made them far less accurate, this was more than made up for by the fact that the Yu Yan would be unable to retaliate.

**Superior Mobility**

More than anything else, this is the factor that won the war. Until the invention of the hot air balloon the only thing that could match the Air Nomads in speed were the Fire Nation ships; those could only travel upon water, and were in limited supply. Every single Air Nomad could fly, not merely outdistancing any Fire Nation pursuers, but also moving nearly anywhere within the Fire nation without fear of retaliation.

The Air Nomads' mobility essentially acted as a force multiplier. They could always strike at the Fire Nation's weakest point, and with their full force. Meanwhile, the Fire Nation was forced to spread out its troops, as any undefended point was a potential target. By contrast, the Fire Nation could never strike back at the Air Nomads. Not only could the Air Nomads retreat faster, but they could hide within the mountains, easily crossing areas in hours that would have take days by conventional forces.

The second big advantage the mobility granted was ambushes. By the end of the war Fire Nation doctrine actually had frontline solders sleep in during the day, in the expectation they would be attacked at night. One favored tactic of the Xuan Feng was to fly near an area, fire a few arrows using airbending to direct them so they appeared to come from multiple directions, and then retreat before they could be found. Each attack might kill or injure only a few people, but by repeating it night after night, they quickly wore down the Yu Yan's superior numbers.

This is not to say that the conflict was entirely one sided. Occasionally the Fire Nation troops were able to anticipate attacks or lead the Xuan Feng into an ambush. Most famously as Xi Lang Forest in , individual airbenders would often find themselves too tired to make it all the way to the cliffs and mountains. In this case they would often be forced to rest within the forest, if caught; they could expect brutal treatment at the hand of either military or civilian captors.

Overall, however the Xuan Feng were highly successful. By 1206 only an estimated 100 Yu Yan were left despite constant recruitment. At that point Fire Lord Iroh disbanded the Yu Yan, feeling that the Xuan Feng's targeting of them made membership a death sentence. This order was one of the growing indications of Iroh's feelings that the war was hopeless, feelings that would eventually lead to his Agni Kai with Avatar Aang in 1210.

OoOoOoO

**Avatar The Last Firebender**

**Book 1, Chapter 13**

**The Chase**

Observing a pub fight was defiantly better than being in it, Zhao decided. "And this is where you intend find someone for your latest scheme to get the Princess?"

Jamyang calmly sidestepped a thrown man, opening the door and letting him fly out. "Hmmmm. Yes, the bounty hunter comes highly recommended. Of course, I could always ask the Xuan Feng to come back."

That shut Zhao up rather quickly, the last thing he wanted was for those witches to come back. Bad enough to have to work with Jamyang, but he would not have the dishonor of having his prey captured by the Xuan Feng! Zhao wished he could have used his fleet to pursue Azula, but they had to sail around the Western Cape in order to cut off any retreat north.

"Ah, I believe that is her." Jamyang stated, pointing to one of the few standing combatants left. The woman was wearing skingtight clothes, opening around the shoulder to show off a whirlpool tattoos. Jamyang began to walk forward as she tossed one man aside and crashed another through a table to become the only standing combatant. "June the Bounty Hunter, I presume?"

"Lee the Air Nomad, I presume?"

"My name is Jamyang-"

June rolled her eyes. "Look ,as I told gusty it's five gold coins to start plus one a day, and you need something of the person you want caught."

"Hmmmm. That deal is acceptable." Jamyang stated, reaching into his robes.

Her eyes narrowed. "Hmmmm. No, actually I don't think it is."

If Jamyang was fazed by the mocking, he didn't show it. "I'm sorry?"

"I want my weight in gold."

"WHAT? That's highway robbery!" Zhao yelled, stepping forward. "What makes you possibly think we'd pay that?

June laughed, and began walking out. "I don't know… what would make an Air Nomad monk and a Fire Nation Captain work together? Could it be the rumor of a certain Fire Princess?" June stopped at the doorway. "Oh, and by the way, my fee is now his weight in gold." June pointed to Zhao.

OoOoOoO

By the time Jamyang had calmed Zhao down June had already untied her beast -- Which rather resembled a cross between a mole and anteater, at least if the two creature were about ten time scarier and had legs designed for running. June looked up as she saw the two of them walking out of the bar. "If it isn't my two favorite people: blowhard and humming bird."

"Hmmmm. We have agreed to your fee, payment will be delivered upon completion." Jamyang answered, Zhao was gritting his teeth.

"Good, now I need something of the Princess's so Nyla can track her down."

Jamyang reached into his robes, pulling out a large white fang, carved with a depiction of Avatar Kuruk. "I believe this will do."

OoOoOoO

Azula rolled out the Earth Kingdom map. "We just crossed Yi Shi fortress, which puts us on the southern edge of the Western Peninsula. If we head straight north Zhao's fleet won't be able to pursue us."

"But what about the Air Nomads?" Katara asked.

Azula smiled. "Those bison can't fly forever. Without the ships they will tire themselves out looking for us. The Northern Earth Kingdom is huge and the chances of them finding us are tiny."

"What about this river? Couldn't Zhao send his ships along it?" Sokka asked.

Azula shook her head." It doesn't connect. Zhao might be able to pursue us for a little while, but he would ultimately be sabotaging himself. He _might_ be stupid enough to do it, but the monk he's working with is not. Trust me, our only concern now is making it north before Zhao's fleet. Which is why we'll be taking the main roads."

"But-"

"Trust me, the Air Nomads don't have enough bison to cover everything, and even if they do happen to see us, it doesn't matter. Their only options are to try to take me on themselves, or to fly all the way back to the ships to get reinforcements, and by that time we can be long gone. Our only concern is getting to the northern coast and finding transportation before the fleet arrives.

OoOoOoOo

June pulled on Nyla's reigns as she signaled to Air Bison above. Leaning back in the saddle, she waited for the massive beast to land.

Hmmmmm. I trust you've found the trail then." Jamyang called down from the saddle."

June rolled her eyes. "No, I called you down here because I need Nyla's nails clipped. The princess was here a few days ago. She's heading north."

"What helpful information, I'm so glad we decided to hire this bounty hunter of yours, Jamyang." Zhao said as he climbed down from the bison.

June's eyes narrowed. "I'm hired to track people, and _normally_ I work alone. Directions aren't my specialty. Trust me, Nyla can track exactly where she's been."

"Hmmmm. How far from the trail your beast need to be in order to track them?"

"Were you watching? She went directly to the trail all the way from the bar. She can track anyone, anywhere on earth."

"In that case, I may have a suggestion."

OoOoOo

Nyla whined as June tried to reassure her.

"I don't think this was such a good ideas" she told Jamyang, her usual sarcasm missing.

"You said yourself that the trail was a few days old. They are already making their way North, and we cannot afford to stop."

"But this…" June looked nervously over the edge of the bison.

"Do not worry. Tsewang is the strongest Air Bison I have ever known. He will be able to carry us and Nyla for at least half a day. After he gets tired, Senge and Temba," Jamayang pointed to the two other Air Nomads accompanying them, "will watch over him and guide him back to the fleet. Meanwhile, you and I can pursue then on Nyla with June. We should be able to catch up with them."

"You want to go after Azula, with only this… bounty hunter for back up? We need real solders, not bar- room brawlers."

June's whip cracked near Zhao's head. "Please, I've faced and beaten Fire Nation solders before." She lifted her left glove, revealing a scar across the palm of her hand. "Got this from blocking a swordstrike when I was hired to round up a band your goons rampaging through a few towns to the west."

"A few _deserters_ are nothing compared to-" Zhao began.

June unceremoniously adjusted her tunic to reveal her right shoulder and long scar. "Got this from a little 'bar-room brawl', guy pulled a knife. This," She rolled up the sleeve of her right arm, which was absolutely crisscrossed with scars. "Got this from a little 'training accident' with Nyla. Now then, as a 'soldier' you do anything besides standing on the deck your ship, growing that beard?"

June and Zhao stared each other down, before being interrupted by a gust of wind calculated for maximum annoyance without any actual damage, both turned toward Jamyang.

Jamyang pulled down the high collar of his Air Nomad robes, revealing a network of scars that crisscrossed his lower throat and continued down underneath his shirt. They put anything June had shown to shame. "_Si__Wong desert, a rather nasty owl-snake.__."_ Jamyang's voice was harsh and raspy, and he seemed to strain to speak each word, talking barely above a whisper.

"Hmmm. Now then," he continued, returning to his usual tone. "I'm sure we will have no problems. Between you and I, Zhao, we should be able to contain Azula. June can easily deal with the boy. As for the waterbender, I understand that Nyla's tongue contains paralyzing venom, correct?"

OoOoOoO

"Now we can stop." Both water tribe siblings gratefully flopped onto the ground at Azula's pronouncement. Azula shook her head. "Don't get too settled in, we still need to set up camp and get wood for the fire."

"Yeah, somehow I don't think that's really going to be a problem." Sokka responded.

"Oh really, and you had the brilliant insight because?"

Wordlessly, Sokka held up one finger, and then pointed to the utterly cloudless sky. The sun hadn't quite fully set yet, but stars were already coming out. He then held up two fingers, and pointed to where they had entered the clearing just as Sukara came into view. Sukara took five slow steps into the clearing proper before himself collapsing, spreading out all four of its legs in each direction and giving a small whine. Katara got up and rushed over, untying the supplies on his back.

Azula rolled her eyes. "Fine, we can use the dry supplies tonight. Honestly, we've walked this far before."

"On roads, over level ground." Sokka added.

Azula gave a dismissive sniff. "I didn't have any problems," she said as she walked toward Sukara and Katara.

"Which has nothing to do with the breathing exercises firebenders have, or the fact that you control our schedule."

Azula started helping Katara untie the knots that kept the supplies on Sukara back. "No, I really don't see what either of those has to do with it at all.

"The air, it's... less breathable up here, thinner."

"Right…"

"It is." Sokka insisted. "And we stopped right as night fell."

"Well, yes. If we traveled at night we'd have to use a light, which would be like painting a big target on ourselves."

"And it has nothing to do with the fact that firebenders function better in the day?"

Azula's head snapped around. "How did you know that?"

Sokka smiled. "Well for one thing, you just confirmed it, but honestly? We've been traveling together for… a month or two now? It's not that hard to notice that you tend to get much more lethargic at night, and your bending isn't as impressive."

"Impressive enough to burn you." Azula muttered.

"Guys, please, just stop fighting. Let's just unpack, eat and go to bed, Okay?" Katara pleaded.

OoOoOo

The rest of the evening went by quietly., Azula and Sokka weren't talking to each other, which was really just as well. Once they finished eating all three went to sleep. Or at least Azula and Sokka did, Katara lay on her sleeping bag, but despite how tired she was her body refused to cooperate. Resigning herself to staying up, she opened her eyes and looked at the night sky. It was disturbingly unfamiliar:, as a child she had been taught which stars to look for in order to find her way home. But now, she didn't recognize a single one. Yet another reminder of just how far away from home she was.

Katara's eyes drifted to one of the brightest stars in the sky. At least until it disappeared. Katara blinked, unsure if she was seeing things. A second later it returned. But the stars next to it had disappeared. Katara stared in confusion before giving a small laugh. "Oh! A cloud. I must more tired than I- a cloud… when today was cloudless, and I can see all the other stars…." Katara got out of her sleeping bag and began crawling towards Azula.

Katara reached out to shake her awake "Azu-" Before Katara's hand touched the sleeping bag, Azula shot up, grabbing Katara's outstretched hand and pulling it down, while her other hand shot in front of Katara's face, ready to fireblast it at a moment's notice.

"It's me!" Katara shouted.

Azula blinked. "May I ask why you decided to wake me up in the middle of the night?" she said, with the unspoken _and it had better be good_ clear in the tone.

"I think there's an air bison above us." Katara pointed to the sky and the patch of darkness, only detectable by the disappearing stars it left as it passed by.

Azula let out a small curse. "They shouldn't be able to see us, but wake you brother and Sukara and hide. Hopefully they will pass by." While Katara ran off to wake Sokka, Azula began scaling one of the trees. It was most likely unnecessary, but better safe than sorry.

Luck was not with her, as the bison's path headed straight toward the campsite. Azula cursed again. She should have told Katara to move the sleeping bags, now there was clear evidence they were here. It was such a stupid oversight too; this was an excellent camp- ground. It would be the first place she would have looked for fugitives, and even if they weren't as smart as her, it was still a place the air nomads themselves would stop to make camp as well. Azula began concentrating on her breathing, trying to remain as calm as possible.

The bison descended, giving a moan of relief as it touched the ground. That was good, it would be hard for them to retreat if it was tired, and it also indicated that they had been searching all day, so they were most likely tired as well. Azula listened. It was almost impossible to tell how many air nomads there were by footsteps, as their feet were so light, but she thought there were five. Before she could plan an ambush, she was surprised to hear a loud "wumph" of a rather heavy-set person jumping down from the bison, followed by a second, softer one. That meant two non-air benders: one heavy and one light. Most likely they were firebenders, recruited from the ship. That complicated things, because firebenders were resistant to fire, and Azula needed to take them out first lest they signal someone.

The group began moving. Azula could still make out the heavy firebender, but the lighter one was now silent. Either they were naturally stealthy, or they were trained. That didn't fit in with typical fire bending training. Perhaps they had been thieves of some sort before finding their bending and being recruited, or perhaps an odd style of firebending? Unlikely, Zhao was far too rigid and would not encourage it. But that monk… he would make use of different styles. If he realized someone on Zhao's ship had been trained unique style he would most likely want to make use of that, in which case they might be deadly. Azula tried to think of all the firebending styles she knew, and which ones would correlate with stealth.

"They're not here!" Azula nearly fell out of the tree in surprise, that shout had been unmistakable, it was Zhao himself. That was… unexpected, and would make this difficult, but out here he couldn't rely on his troops to defend him. Once she took out the others she could easily deal with Zhao. On some random mountain in the earth kingdom, alone, unmourned. Not as good as captured and a formal execution, but a fairly good death for a traitor none-the-less.

"They're here. Or is the sleeping bag you just ripped owned by the mountain-leopards?" The voice was female, and the tone of disrespect indicated it wasn't someone under Zhao's command. Azula couldn't quite place the accent, but it wasn't air nomad. Perhaps an earth or water bender then? Whoever it was, it didn't change the plan, kill them first.

"C'mon Nyla." A loud whump was heard as something big jumped off the bison. An animal trainer of some sort then? Fine then, throw fire at the animals, panic them, and then kill her.

Azula crouched her legs and prepared began to summon fire in the palms of her hand. "Hmmmm I-" Azula wanted to curse, and since she was already in midspring and had summoned fire by the time she realized Jamyang was there, she did so. The night was illuminated by twin streaks of blue fire.

Confusion erupted as several voices shouted at once. "WAAAGHHH" The air bison's bellow of pain drowned out everything else as its fur burned. Azula summoned up two more fire blasts and fired them at Jamyang. Not bothering to see if they hit, she focused her next blasts on the woman. Rather than deflecting with some sort of bending, the woman dodged out of the way. Azula turned to face Zhao's inevitable counterattack, but saw he had his back turned towards her, instead facing Katara.

"KATARA! Get Sukara, we need to leave now!" Not waiting to see if she had heard, Azula began to spin, unleashing a dome of fire around her. Using the momentary distraction, she began racing towards Katara, launching a fireblast in Zhao's general direction as she ran. It would be too much to hope that it did anything, but she wasn't stupid. Her own survival came above petty revenge. Azula ran past Katara, who was preparing another water whip. She grabbed her arm and pulled her away, and the water fell to the ground.

"Where's Sukara?" Katara pointed in front of them, as Azula nearly crashed into the whale-wolf. "Get on!"

"What about Sokka?"

Katara's question was answered a few seconds later by a cry of "Wait for meeee!" as Sokka ran towards them, flailing his arms.

OoOoOo

Jamyang assessed the damage. "I do wish she hadn't done that." He said, inspecting the burnt fur on Tsewang. "It's fine, be strong," he reassured the injured animal. "Still, I supposed we are fortunate. Tsewang wouldn't be able to fly longer anyways, so this will not hinder our efforts. We should be thankful no one else was injured."

Zhao rubbed his head. "Speak for yourself, that water-wench hit me with that whip of hers."

"Awww did the poor baby get wet?"

"No, but this 'poor baby' is going to teach her some respect."

"Hmmmm. I would prefer that you didn't, Zhao. We need to be cautious, Azula is too dangerous otherwise. Please concentrate on her, Nyla will deal with the waterbender."

Zhao blinked. There had been no "admiral" this time, which he was pretty sure was the equivalent of cursing him out for Jamyang.

Jamyang turned to the other two air nomads.** "** Coejor, stay with Tsewang. Norbu, head to the ships and inform them of what has happened."

OoOoOoO

Any decent rider knows riding bareback on an ostrich-horse is not fun. Riding bareback on a Whale-Wolf is much, much worse. Azula wasn't sure how long it had been, but it felt like forever. She was now facing the awkward dilemma of choosing to sit down or staying standing. On the one hand her legs felt like jelly, on the other hand sitting would require touching a very tender behind to the ground, a proposition that was not enamoring. Luckily, Sokka provided a distraction from the dilemma.

"So, they'll never find us, huh? We'll beat them easily."

"Oh shut up." Azula snapped back.

"Why'd we run?" To Azula's surprise, it was Katara who asked.

"Because there was no way we could win." Azula answered.

"Why? You took out the Air Nomad's when Jet was there." Katara replied.

Azula sighed. "One of the monks was their leader. His bending is nearly as good as my own. Alone I could have taken him, but with Zhao as back-up it would have been too much."

Katara frowned. "I was fighting Zhao."

Azula smiled sweetly. "Katara, he is a master bender, you couldn't have taken him."

Katara crossed her arms. "I nearly defeated Hama, and I've only gotten better since then."

Azula sighed, "You were next to the ocean then. Did you see any rivers near us? Exactly how long do you think your water supply would have lasted against Zhao's fire?" Katara merely grunted. Azula rubbed her temples, and began pacing around, since when had Katara gotten so bold? "Now, I need to think. How did they even find us? They couldn't track us before, so it must have something… the animal! Get up, we need to move."

Sokka, who had opted for sitting down, gave a groan of protest. "Why?"

"Because, the woman in the group was some sort of animal trainer and since they managed to find us in the dead of night, the animal must have been a tracker. We need to find a river to remove any scent."

"Yeah, because water always removes someone's sent." Sokka shot back, patting Sukara on the side.

Azula took a deep breath. Of all the luck, she had no idea how to fool a tracker, she'd never bothered with the royal vole-hounds. "Wait a minute, your both sav- Southern Water tribesmen. You should know something about tracking, right?"

Neither sibling looked amused, though Katara spoke up. "Gran-Gran said that if we were ever being tracked by wolves the best thing to do was catch a stink fish then throw it in one direction and go in a different direction. The scent would confuse them and you could get away."

Sokka rolled his eyes. "Yes but given I haven't seen any stinkfish-"

"Fish, right." Azula interrupted. "Well we can find some of those near the river. Water always flows downward, so come on."

OoOoOo

Nyla stopped when she reached the river. "Looks like she's found something." June said as the beast sniffed the ground. After a few seconds, she shot across the river to the other bank, drenching the three riders.

"Indeed it does." Zhao said as he began heating his clothes. "She's found fish."

June's eyes narrowed. "Stop thinking with your stomach." She cracked the whip and Nyla gave a good approximation of a grumble before heading down the river.

"Hmmmm. Do you know why there were fish on the bank? I am not familiar with this region, but I was under the impression fish usually stay within the water."

June rolled her eyes. "...Hmmm. I'd say they were trying to cover their trail. Of course that was not only the wrong kind of fish, but Nyla's too good to get fooled by that. Aren't you girl?"

OoOoO

The sound of something heavy running was the only warning they got. Acting on well trained reflexes, Azula turned around and summoned up a wall of flamed between them and their pursuers. It lasted only seconds before Jamayang dispelled it, jumping off of the beasts back and bring his staff crashing down with a burst of wind.

Azula jumped to the side, sending off twin flames at the onrushing opponents. Jamyang twilled his staff and deflected them while Zhao sent several blasts of fire towards Azula. Azula jumped back. She was forced on the defensive under the assault of wind and fire. The women moved to flank her. Azula attempted to do a fire spin, but the woman used a whip to encircle her arm and began dragging her forward.

"Got you prince-" Zhao was cut off by a gigantic stream of water, which crashed into him and sent him tumbling back. Meanwhile, the whip was cut by Sokka's thrown boomerang. Now freed, Azula went on the attack again, forcing Jamyang back as she blasted at him with blue flame.

Zhao shook his head and stood up. "Stay on Azula." Jamayang shouted.

"Then have _someone_ deal with the water witch!" Zhao shouted as he started hammering Azula with fire blasts, again forcing her back.

"Nyla- sic." June shouted, pointing at Katara. The Shirshu ran towards Katara, tongue out. Just as it was almost upon her Sukara burst forth, biting Nyla on the leg. The shirshu gave a howl of pain, and retaliated by licking Sukara along the jawline. Sukara's grip loosened, and Nyla took the opportunity to deliver a painful kick to the teeth.

Katara sent Zhao to the ground once more. Her blast drove him along the rocky ground and created numerous cuts along his back. "I thought your beast was supposed to deal with her."

"You didn't tell me about the Whale-wolf. Its muscles are too thick to be completely affected." June shouted back while Sukara and Nyla were engaged in a furious melee. Both animals were limping, Sukara from the numbing agent, and Nyla from the bite. "Give me a moment to deal with this _annoyance_ and I'll get her." June finished, as she dodged a wild swing from Sokka before kicking him in the face.

"I don't have a minute. I'll deal with her myself." Zhao shouted, summoning a gigantic blast of fire at Katara.

"NO!" Jamyang shouted. The burst of fire hit the blast of water, and steam began pouring out where the two met. Katara and Zhao continued summoning their element, each trying to drive the other back, as steam began to engulf the battlefield. Sukara and Nyla were closest to the epicenter, and gave twin howls as the boiling-hot steam touched them. They broke off their melee to make a dash for the river. June and Sokka were next, and, seeing what happened to the other two, decided to make a dash for it before they were engulfed.

The steam continued to rush outward, it was almost upon the two combatants, but neither stopped. Katara didn't dare, lest she be burned to a crisp by Zhao's fire, and Zhao was far to enraged to care. This water wench was daring to challenge _him_! Just as the steam was about to engulf them both, a burst of wind from Jamyang blew it away. "ZHAO! Stop it or you will kill us all."

Azula took advantage of Jamyang's distraction to send forth another blast. Jamyang barely managed to jump back in time. Azula took a deep breath to summon another flame, but nothing came forth. She tried again. There was no fire, worse, _she couldn't breathe_.

"No breath, no fire. I control the air, I control your breath. Please surrender. I find no pleasure in chocking someone to unconsciousness. " Jamyang said in answer to her silent question as he kept his hands perfectly still, forcing the air to remain where it was. Azula gave a look of defiance and charged Jamyang, who responded by knocking her into a tree with a breath of wind. "As I said, you cannot win-" Jamyang turned around, moving just in time to catch the boomerang Sokka had thrown at him. His face fell as he heard the distinct crackle of electricity and realized that in order to catch the boomerang he had moved his hand.

Jamyang whirled around. Not wasting even a second he sent a wide blast of air at Azula and jumped to the side. This action saved his life. He managed to hit Azula before she could fully form the lighting, stunning her. Jamyang pressed his momentary advantage, sending another blast of wind in a horizontal arc. Azula jumped from one tree to the next, "climbing" them to avoid it. Using her newfound height to her advantage, she began focusing her blasts on the grass near Jamyang, surrounding him in flames.

Jamyang took to the tree tops as well. He delivered a burst of wind that snapped several branches and sent them flying in Azula's direction. Azula dropped down, sending another blast of fire toward Jamyang, who jumped into the air. "Nothing to jump off of now." Azula shouted as she sent the widest blast she could in his direction. Azula could barely make out what happened with the bright fire, but it looked like Jamyang kicked off from his own staff in midair. He barely managed to dodge the flames .

Azula sent several more blasts and Jamyang jumped through the trees towards his staff. Azula attempted to incinerate it before he got there, but she was too late. The monk grabbed his staff and retreated towards the river. Azula took off after him. She was nearly crushed by a burning tree as it fell. Their battle, combined with the dry winter months, had turned the forest into an inferno.

When they got to the river Azula saw Katara and Sokka had decided to retreat. Katara formed a small "raft" of ice. Both siblings had managed to climb on and Katara was now using her bending to push it out into the middle of the river. Sukara had waded in after them. Running as fast as she could, Azula sprinted to the edge of the river. Just before she made it to the water, she did something she hadn't done since the disastrous incident during her first visit to the North Pole, and summoned fire from the soles of her feet. Using the fire as a propellant, she launched herself towards the ice raft.

OoOoOo

Jamyang watched as Azula summoned a stream of fire behind her, successfully breaking the water speed record for floating pieces of ice. "Hmmm, it appears our quarry has been lost, how unfortunate. I suggest we depart before the fire gets to close. "

June nodded. "We need to find someplace to make camp."

"What, why would we stop now? We have them on the run." Zhao shouted.

"Because, Nyla's injured. She can move, but she won't be carrying us all. So unless you can replicate that little floating ice trick, we're either walking, or letting it heal. Oh don't give me that look, she's a tough girl, it'll heal in a day or so."

OoOoOo

"Were you two idiots trying to leave without me?" Azula shouted.

"Oh, right, 'cause you never tried to leave without someone!" Sokka roared back.

"And I thought you said you could handle Zhao!" Azula turned on Katara.

Katara crossed her arms. "I could! At least if _someone_ could have handled the woman."

"Oh so now you're blaming me?" Sokka asked. "Azula's the reason they're chasing us!"

"You ungrateful little piece of ash. I saved your life not a week ago!"

"And we wouldn't have been in danger if it wasn't for you!" Sokka angrily replied poking his finger towards her.

Azula formed a ball of fire in her hands. "And Katara would still be stuck in the South Pole, without a prayer of learning water bending!"

Sokka and Azula turned to Katara, who had crossed her arms, and looked from one to the other, thinking. "Well the only thing I'm going to be able to learn up there is healing."

The problem with lies is that one must keep them consistent. Normally Azula was a very good liar. Normally Azula wasn't suffering from staying up an entire night, and a battle that tested her to her limits. Azula shrugged. "Katara, look, isn't healing better than nothing?"

"SO HAMA WAS RIGHT! You lied to me! I can't believe it, you lied this entire time!"

"What!? I never lie."

"No! You said they'd be able to teach me waterbending, you never mentioned they only teach women healing."

Azula gave a dismissive wave. "So I left a few details out-"

"You thought I didn't have control when we first meant. Healing needs control! You never had any intention of having me learn waterbending. You selfish, greedy, liar. I can't believe anyone would be so deceitful. I-" The water beneath the ice began to ripple dangerously.

"Oh get off your high horse Katara."

Katara turned towards Sokka, blinking in surprise. "What?"

"Look, I'm tired, I'm cranky, I don't want to get drenched again and for once in my life I am not going to put up with you self righteous prima donna attitude. You accused Azula of lying, but what about yourself?"

"What are you talking about? I never acted like her!"

Sokka snorted. "Then who's Hama. Huh?" Katara fell silent. "I'm not stupid. You couldn't master that whip at all, then all of a sudden you just 'get it'? Meanwhile you're complaining about that nasty 'witch'. You've been lying to us, so who is she, and what got you so angry?"

Katara turned away, holding herself up defiantly. "She tried to capture me. She was with the Air Nomads. That's all."

"Sure, and that's why you have the same hatred in your voice when you talking about the nomads, or Zhao. Someone who tried to _roast you alive_." Sokka punctuated his speech with waving arms.

"They, weren't, traitors." Katara growled.

"Sure. Nothing more. Fine, you two keep your little secrets. I'm the only one who's actually honest."

"Then what happened on Kyoshi Island?" Azula asked.

"What?" Sokka replied, confused.

"You said we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for me. Well we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you. I was nearly home free on the ship. The only reason we are out here, instead of already at the North, is because Zhao caught us. And in order to do that, someone must have told him we had escaped the poles."

"What does that? You think I told him?" Sokka asked, while Sukara whined in the background.

Azula shrugged. "Well I don't see any other way he could have found out. And you were captured on the island. So tell me, who is this "Suki" you mention in your sleep. And just what did you tell them?"

"I didn't tell them anything."

"Yeah right."

"Like you have room to talk, the only reason they were interested in him was because of you, Azula." Katara yelled, reentering the argument.

All three began shouting at each other at once, and it became impossible to make out what any of them were saying. Finally the conversation was ended by Sukara giving an extremely loud cry, drowning out all three teenagers. In the ensuing silence the three finally noticed the sound of rushing water.

OoOoOo

**Author's notes**:

Sorry this took so long. Between finals and finding a summer job it was a real problem getting this done. Next few chapters shouldn't take as long, I promise. I don't think this was my best, but I really needed to get this done or I'd never move on.

Hope you like the fight scene. I tried to portray two master benders going at it. Plus the next few chapters are going to be heavy on the characters and talking, low on action, so this will probably be the last real fight scene for quite a while.

Also, observant readers should notice I've finally given a date for Iroh and Aang's duel. When I first mentioned it in chapter seven, I was surprised at how many people assumed it was at the same time as Aang stopped visiting Bumi. In retrospect it wasn't that unusual, I introduced both plot points in the same chapter, and it was logical to think so.

OoOoOOO

**Preview (special treat, previews for the next three chapters)**

June and Zhao waited by the waterfall. Finally, Jamyang flew back up. "I don't see any blood or bodies at the base, so I do not believe the fall killed them." June nodded, and instructed Nyla to begin descending, the shirshu's sharp claws allowing it to climb down at angles impossible for a human. When they reached the base, Nyla began sniffing, before letting of a series of growls and jerking her head in various directions.

"You sure girl?" Nyla gave another growl. "Nyla says all three went in different directions. They floated downstream at first, getting thrown onto shore at various points. The boy with the boomerang headed northeast. One of the girl's headed North, and the other Northwest."

"Can't she at least tell them apart?" Zhao asked

"Nope, the horn had both girls scents on it. And she was too busy avoiding getting chomped last night to bother with remember which was which."

"Hmmmm. We've headed somewhat more west that I expected. Admiral Zhao, may I ask you to head east and signal the air bison when you see them? Have them check the towns in the area, without any food or supplies they will need to find civilization fast. June , I ask that you track the northern trail. I will head North-West. The mountains in that area are of heavy spiritual significance, a matter I am well equipped to deal with. Hmmmm." Jamyang pulled out a small lantern as he spoke.

OoOoO


	15. Azula alone

Wow, this took entirely to long. My next chapter is already off to my beta, so it should be coming along soon. Sokka's chapter is last, and I'm not sure how long it's going to be. On the one hand it's one of the one's I don't have fully planned out, which usually means a long time, but it's also short, or at least should be (not because I don't love Sokka, but because it's the only one that doesn't have a ton of extra backstory included).

Also sorry about the hiccup, I accidentally uploaded the rough draft chapter the first time.

**The Rise and Fall of the Air Empire**

**Chapter 15: Mongrels and Exiles**

The term 'Mongrel' has been used as a term for children of mixed blood throughout history. What exactly "mixed" blood means has widely varied, from meaning different nations, to different kingdoms, to different social classes, to even different clans. In this case I shall be referring to the children of mixed Fire Nation blood born during the Empire period. I shall begin with the misconceptions regarding the Air Nomads, then go on to the misconceptions about those with Earth Kingdom or Water Tribe ancestry. Finally, the chapter will end with the myths and misconceptions regarding the exiles.

Sensationalist tales of the Air Nomads viciously taking helpless Fire Nation maidens have been a staple of Fire Nation storytelling since the first invasion; from the rabble rousers immediately after the war, to the 'coin awfuls' popular at the turn of the last century, to the piece of complete and utter trash known as "Rebirth of the Fire Nation.' (since I have already made my distaste for _that_ moving picture clear, I shall not go further) Furthermore, literature that depicts any sort of romantic contact outside of this is usually seen as 'immoral'. The most recent example of this being the famed 'Starlight' saga.

Yet even the 'Starlight' sage is less than flattering when it is truly examined. The real romance is between the innocent "Anana duck-swan" a waterbender healer from the Southern Tribe, and 'Enkou Kouen' a Fire Nation youth, the Air Nomad, "Jangbu" is nothing but a rival for Anana's affections. While there are many criticisms to be leveled at the book series, such as the 'protagonist's' helplessness and constant need to be rescued, as well as her bending being limited to healing (double insulting given who the most famous Water Bender from the South was during that time), or the violent Enkou being describe as the 'perfect boyfriend'. The issue I wish to discuss is its portrayal of Jangbu, and Air Nomads in general. They are portrayed as savage and wild people, which as I have already discussed is nothing but pure fantasy. His superior is shown to approve of rape, so even this 'positive' portrayal is, in fact, as biased as any 'coin awful'.

The weight of historical evidence is simply not in favor of this view. The first problem is the attitude of the Fire Nation itself towards the mother's of the children. Documents and accounts from the era refer to them a 'whores' and 'traitors', while it must be granted that there is a unfortunate habit of blaming the victim, the widespread hostility seems out of proportion if they were simply rape victims. This is not to say that there were no rapes, Air Nomad trial accounts back up the claims that there were. However, the very existence of trials seems to argue against the common perception. In most historical cases of extremely widespread rape, the victor simply views the women as spoils, not seeing anything wrong with it. The very existence of trials shows that this was not the case. Furthermore, some of the accusers in these trials were peasants, not merely high ranking/highly respected women (or wives of high ranking husbands) who might be able to incite rebellion if not addressed.

At this point is behooves us to remind ourselves that the Air Nomad forces consisted of women as well as men, and that women have had history wrap a mystique around them as well. Probably the largest tale is the idea of the seductress, that of Air Nomad nuns going off to seduce Fire Nation men, and then killing them after they had their way. Ironically the idea of 'enemy seductresses' also appeared in Air Nomad accounts of the time, warning young monks of the danger of Fire Nation women. Both tales likely have the same truth value, but, like most others, the Air Nomad version has not entered the popular mindset as a result of them being painted as the evil side within the conflict. Also noticeable are outlandish tales of nuns and Xuan Feng kidnapping Fire Nation babies and replacing them with their own, to train against their parents. A tale so outlandish is scarcely deserves mention (after all, none of the 'kidnapped' babies would be able to Air Bend). This theory gained a resurgence with the discovery that the Avatar could "spiritbend", putting aside the obvious problem of Aang spiritbending them, the accounts of Avatars who have learned since then it all state that they can only turn bending "on" and "off" they cannot change what the fundamental element a person is able to bend is. Most likely these accounts are attempts by people to "save face' and explain how they had a baby with clear Air Nomad ancestry without having laid with an Air Nomad. Air Nomad accounts back this up, given how utterly shocked they are at the few times a Nomad did decide to raise a Fire Nation baby.

The probable truth of the matter is that most of these unions were voluntary. The reasons varied, from whirlwind romance, to economic gain to genuine love. Certain modern authors, recognizing the problems with the conventional wisdom, have noted that simply because no overt force was involved does not completely prove innocence, economic or political force could also have been involved. Please note that the author does not wish to debate the idea of "rape" and what it means (can you force someone via other methods than direct force) and I will restrict my commenting to the evidence for the use of political or economic force, what the use of that force (or lack thereof) means is up to the reader.

The use of political force seems unlikely. The Air Nomads consisted of four separate temples, two of which were ruled entirely by women, and in the early years the Eastern Temple (being the only one at full strength) was by far the most powerful and influential. As such the political force seems unlikely, but while there is little evidence for it, there is little against it either. Economic evidence is more abundant. As discussed in chapter 11, there is little evidence for any sort of purposeful economic devastation of the Fire Nation. However it is also clear that the economy was not healthy, partly as a result of previous Fire Lord essentially 'strip mining' it for the war, partially as a result of the battles, and partially as a result of the occupation hampering normal economic activity. Combined with individual household fortunes, (many wives lost their husbands) and there was clearly a supply of women in dire economic straits within the territories. When you include the Air Nomads ability to easily travel to other lands, the economic factor cannot be completely ignored, and is correlated with accounts claiming 'low ill bred women of ill repute'(sic) would often have intercourse with Air Nomads who gave them food or trinkets. Whether this was economic influence or force, rape or seduction, bribery/prostitution or genuine affection that had a material component is unclear, and it seems likely that it was a different mixture for each union. However what is clear is that the popular image of breaking into homes and waylaying on the street is clearly wrong.

With that out of the way two other big stereotypes of the hybrids remain and they can be summed up in this passage "The mongrels are a pathetic being. Born of Fire Nation blood and Air, they are constantly at war with themselves. Their Fire Nation side strives for greatness, while their Air side weaves its deception, making them schemers with the will to greatness, one must always be on guard. The blood further wars within their own body, leading to disease and madness." (sic)

The first idea of this text is that of them as both tricky and ambitious. To this I will agree it has as much truth as any idea of certain "bloods" having certain mental, and say no more. The second is the idea that the 'warring bloods' lead to ill health, both mentally and physically. It is true they seem to have a higher rate of disease and insanity. However, given that most of these people suffer from alienation, discrimination and are often economically ghettoize and kept in the worst work of society, is it any surprise that they suffer so?

OoOoOo

**Book 1, Chapter 14**

**Azula Alone**

_Red flags lined the parade ground. The mood was somber. All long the ground men in the identical robes help their heads downward._

"_Iroh, Firelord to our nation for forty-six years. Upon your ascension as a child you stabilized the front. For over thirty-eight years**, **__you held out against the wrath of the Avatar. You were our glorious light in these dark times, and now you have sacrificed that light in the service of your people. You were father of Lu Ten. Husband of Taiyoukousen__**, **__now passed. Brother to Ozai. We lay you to rest." As the sage finished his sentence the two firebenders on each side set the open coffin on fire. The flames licked around the open coffin, turning Iroh's face into nothing but ash._

_The Fire Sage continued, "As is proper tradition, you are now succeeded by your son, Lu Ten." The speech stopped once again, and Lu Ten Stepped forward, barely higher than the casket which held his father. The Sage carefully placed the gold headpiece upon his head. At once the mass of people, including the remaining royal family bowed to the ground, Ursa straining against her pregnant belly. _

_The Sage continued, "But he is young, just as you were when your right was given, and as you father was, and he will need guidance. You and your father were given a council of lords to aid and guide you, but each man saw to his own designs. They selfishly pulled in different directions, crippling our efforts and allowing the enemy to strike deep into our nation. In your foresight you insured this would not happen to your son. As was your last wish before leaving to face the Avatar, Prince Ozai will be appointed, Lord Protector, to guide both your Nation and your son. To oversee, safeguard and guide them." While the rest of the crowd remained bowing, Ozai stood up and walked behind Lu Ten. He put one hand upon Lu Ten's shoulder and gave a small nod of acknowledgement._

_All of a sudden the silence was broken by the sounds of Ursa's strained breathing as she went into labor._

OOOOOO

Azula awoke with disgust. She thought she'd stopped having that dream years ago. It was so stupid, born of childish fantasies. The real funeral would have been closed casket, and even then what remained of Iroh's body would have been a mostly decomposed corpse since transporting his body from Crescent Island to the capital had taken three weeks. What was even dumber was the idea that her birth happened during the funeral, rather than two weeks later! Apparently mother had told her that her birth been a "light of hope" after Iroh's death, and in her stupid childish mind she'd come to that conclusion that she had been born during the funeral. Of course, she knew better now, but it wasn't like the stupid dream responded. Azula really hated that about dreams; you had no control.

About the only thing in the entire dream that was accurate was the speech. According to her mother she'd found a copy of it when she was four and forced the servants to read it to her every night. Eventually she'd attempted to show off her reading skill to daddy by reciting the entire speech. The attempt had worked at first, until he had noticed she was holding the paper upside-down. Mom claimed that it was the most precious thing she'd ever seen. Azula thought it most childish thing she ever heard, and hated when it was brought up.

"UGH!" Azula came back to reality as she realized she was covered in mud. She began shook it off as best she could, but she'd been lying on the bank of a river and it was all over. Azula gave a groan as she stood up. She'd been there for who-knows how long, and now she was who-knew where. Azula rubbed her temples, she needed to think.

She needed to get north, but… which way was north? She knew the sun rose in the East but, right now it was high noon, and she didn't want to have to wait until nightfall to get her bearings. The fact that it was noon was worrying; if she had slept through dawn, there was no telling how long she'd been out. Was it even the next day? Was anyone tracking her?

"ARGGH" Azula kicked at a few rocks. If the idiots were here they might know some way to tell, but she didn't see any sign of them along the banks. But Azula knew she was better off without them. She'd travel easier, and wouldn't have to worry about rescuing them anymore. She should have just abandoned the ungrateful wretches after they got sick. She'd just picked them up to break the ice. They were just tools, it wasn't like they were _friends_.

Azula shook her head. She didn't need to concentrate on them anymore, she needed to think about her present problems: How to find her way to civilization? The river, perhaps. Most human settlements tended to be near water. But which way, upstream or down? Downstream might lead to the ocean, or might just lead to a lake, and if she went downstream and it lead to nothing she'd be at the base of the mountains which would mean a lot of hiking and climbing.

Azula's stomach growled. Food, she should concentrate on that for now. Without Sukkara there wasn't a guaranteed source, and starving would be such a _stupid_ way to die. Hunting was probably her best option, after all it was just killing, and Azula was good at killing. And the river was the perfect spot; animals would come to drink from it. Which meant she didn't have to wander off and risk getting lost. Azula climbed up one of the nearby trees and settled in for the wait.

OoOoO

_Azula gave a deep bow. Or more accurately her upper body bent down. A bow implies some degree of deference, and this action gave no indication of that. Perhaps it was the lack of movement around the knees. Or perhaps it was the fact that while her upper body bent down, her neck was inclined up. Or maybe it was the continuous smirk. "I'm honored to be here, Miss…..?"_

"_Nutan. Now as a student of the Royal Fire Academy for girls you-" She stopped in mid-sentence, looking as Azula walked to one of the desks and took a seat._

"_I'm sorry, you were saying?" Azula asked._

"…_. Right. I'll be talking with your mother. " After the teacher had left the room, Azula took a look around. She was there early, so some of the seats were unfilled, but many girls had already arrived, unsurprising, given it was the first day. As she waited for the teacher to come back, she decided to play a game. She began to stare at the person closest to her, then moved on to someone else as each one cracked. Just by staring she could tell who knew who she was and who didn't. Those that did either tried to smile at her, or simply avoided her gaze. Those that didn't would often stare back, implicitly challenging her. As she worked her way around the room avoidance became more common._

_The entire process was silent, not a word was spoken as she established her dominance. One by one each girl was reduced to a quivering mass. It was fun. By the end some of the girls were shaking the moment she turned to them. Finally, Azula turned to the last girl in the room, a small, quiet girl in the back with her hair in buns. Azula stared at her .The girl looked at the front. Azula continued to stare. The girl continued to keep her eyes on the board. Azula frowned, this wasn't fun, the other girl wasn't even paying attention. Finally Azula rapped on her desk with a ruler. This finally got the other girl's attention, and the girl turned to the source of the sound. Azula worked up her best stare, but her delight soon turned sour as the girl simply turned back towards the blackboard with disinterest._

_Azula was getting ready to see if the girl was as stoic to fire when she was distracted by the door opening. In one solid motion she let the tiny flame between her fingers die as she spun around, put her hands on her desk and widened her mouth into something a spirit with only book knowledge of humans might dub a "smile". She relaxed a moment later when she saw it was just another girl._

_Azula turned back to her current target, before being distracted a second time. "Hi everyone, my name's Ty Lee!" Azula turned back around, annoyed. This girl was standing in front of the door, cheerfully waving, and utterly oblivious Azula's current project. Azula rolled her eyes and turned back around, she would deal with her soon enough, but right now- _

_The screech of someone pushing back their chair echoed across the room. Azula spun around for a third time, someone was going to burn if she couldn't get a chance to break the bun-girl in peace._

_One of the girls, a clumsy, overbuilt oaf, whose lack of proper grace and built indicated her father was clearly some sort of military officer, had gotten up and was advancing menacingly towards the new girl. Azula raised one eyebrow, sure, the girl was annoying, but why-? Azula stopped, noticing all the other stares Ty Lee was getting. What was so interesting? No, it couldn't be. Azula leaned forward, the shape of the face, body build, and yes, even the gray eyes. They had a __**mongrel**__ in the class. Azula leaned back, the bun-girl could wait, this was going to be entertaining._

_The mongrel gave a bright wave to the oncoming girl. Azula blinked. She'd heard mongrels were disposed to 'thievery, deception, and adultery (whatever that was)' as well as being 'weak in mind and body' but she'd never heard they were __**stupid**__. Maybe it was some sort of trick? Whatever she was trying, it wasn't working, the other girl reached out and grabbed her hair. "OW!"_

"_What makes you think I want to be your friend, mongrel?" The other girl sneered, pulling TY Lee's hair back._

"_I'm not a mongrel. Stop it, STOP IT!" She yelled. _

"_TY LEE! Stop fighting this instant!" The teacher yelled, while the two girls disentangled themselves._

"_But I wasn't-"_

"_I don't want to hear your excuses. Stand in the back." Azula watched as she walked to the back, nearly in tears._

_With that little drama out of the way the class began in earnest. As the teacher began her lecture, Azula's mind wandered to more important topics. The first was the bun-girl, Mai, according to the introductions. That girl didn't properly fear her, but a quick bit of fire should cure that. Those ribbons were probably horribly flammable, shed just needed to get her alone. That only left the problem of-_

"_Alright class, get out your brushes. We are going to begin calligraphy." One of the girls raised her hand. "Yes, Deepa? You haven't lost your brushes, have you?"_

_The girl squirmed in her seat. "No ma,, I just…. Those are my brushes, she must have taken them." The girl declared, pointing to Ty Lee._

_The teachers rounded on Ty Lee. "Give them back."_

"_No they're not. They're mine, see, I put a little pink ribbon on them- OW" Ty Lee gave a yelp as the teacher boxed one of her ears._

"_What did I tell you about lying? And stealing too. Now give them to her and stand in the back again." Azula turned to watch the dejected girl walk to the back again, sniffling. That was the source of the second dilemma. This was all marvelously entertaining, but it presented a problem. It emboldened the other girls. The one who started it was already looking proud of herself. Azula had a couple options. She could join in, but then she was just part of the crowd, subservient to the one who started it, that would not do it all. She could try to usurper it, but that would still leave the memory of the other. Perhaps it was best just to lean back for now, after all, Father didn't fight every battle himself. Yes, it was beneath her notice, she would simply remind each of the girls who the real power was if they got too uppity._

_The rest of the day was fairly quiet until lunch time, when they were given part of the day outside. Azula manage to set the dark girl's buns on fire, and she gave the most delightful screams before dumping her head in the fountain, which was absolutely hilarious. The teacher escorted her to the nurse, leaving the girls alone on the field. Shortly afterwards a few of the girls got up and headed towards the mongrel, who was eating alone by the wall. Azula walked closer, choosing to sit down by a tree that allowed her to watch the action without appearing too interested in it. The only downside was she was also too far away to hear them properly._

_The group surrounded by Ty Lee. Most of the girls hung back, but the girl who had grabbed her hair before stepped forward. They began talking, Azula frowned, annoyed that she couldn't hear them. Finally the girl grabbed part of Ty Lee's lunch and dumped it on the ground. Apparently this was too much, and a resounding smack, echoed across the lawn. Even Azula could make out the collected gasp from the rest of the girls._

_The first girl pulled her fist back. The next few seconds were mess of confusion as Azula took in several things at once. The first was that the girl was a firebender, a clumsy, unskilled one, but the fire from her punch was still enough to freak out several of the other girls, who started screaming. Far more impressive (at least as far as Azula was concerned) was Ty Lee. She seemed to dance around the punch and flames, and somehow ended up behind the other girl. Azula had seen maneuvers like this before in practice Agni Kai's , the firebender's punch had been clumsy, and she was off balance, it would have been easy to push her to the ground. What she had never seen was one with such force. Ty Lee barely touched her, yet the other girl slammed into the wall with all the force of a charging moose-lion._

_A second later the air was filled with howls as the girl clutched her bloody face. The other girls all took a step back, Azula walked towards them. Before she could get there the teacher and a nurse ran outside. The nurse led the crying girl off, while the teacher screamed at Ty Lee. "I told you! I am going to have you expelled, attacking another student! You're lucky they don't have you for treason-"_

_." Azula cut her off. "Excuse me, teacher. Ty Lee didn't attack anyone."_

"_Azula you-"_

"_Princess Azula."_

_Nutan faltered, not used to being purposefully cut off by a student. "Princess Azula. She clearly did, poor Tanvi's face was covered in blood."_

_Azula shrugged. "She tripped."_

"_What? Princess, she clearly said-"_

_Azula shook her head. "You must have been mistaken."_

_The teacher straightened up. "Azula. I am your teacher."_

_Azula nodded. "I know, Ms. Nutan. And when I tell daddy how we learned that the Fire Nation started the war in school today. I'll be sure to let him know __**you**__ were my teacher."_

"_What? but I never-. No one would think I-" She faltered as she began to grasp the implications._

_Azula gave a little giggle. "So Tanvi tripped, right?_

"_I, I…" her shoulders slumped. "Yes, princess Azula."_

"_I'm glad we understand each other." _

_After that, the afternoon class was fairly boring. Azula was feeling fairly proud of herself, she had firmly established her dominance in the classroom. She hadn't originally planned to cow the teacher so early, but as daddy always said, best strike while the fire is hot, or was it strike with hot fire? Regardless, the rest of the afternoon passed by without incident, and as soon as class was over the teacher walked out the door as fast as she could. Azula wondered if she was going to try to get a transfer, on the one hand breaking teachers was fun. On the other hand… it might get tedious after awhile, and she did have things to learn here._

"_Thanks so much for helping me I-". Ty Lee said as she bounced over, completely oblivious to the terror Azula had managed to inspire in everyone else._

"_Teach me."_

"_Huh?" Ty lee blinked._

"_I order you to teach me."_

_Ty Lee cocked her head to one side in confusion .Then shrugged and smiled. "Um… ok. What do you want to know?"_

_Azula stared. "Are you stupid? That move you used."_

"_Oh…" She looked down a moment. Then gave another smile and brightened up. "OK! But we need more room." The idiot grabbed her hand and began to drag her to an open area of the class room. "Ok, now try to punch me."_

"_And why would I do that?"_

_Ty Lee giggled. "So I can use the move, silly."_

_Azula gritted her teeth. She breathed in, she breathed out. Much as she hated to admit it, burning and/or intimidating someone was not the solution here. "I want you to teach the move. Not use it on me."_

"_Don't worry, I'll do it gently."_

_Azula had had enough, and grabbed her by the collar. "I am no one's practice dummy, got it?" Ty Lee nodded furiously." Now show me the move. Without using a real person." The girl looked down, avoiding Azula's gaze. "What's wrong now?"_

"_I… I can't. I always trained with my sisters, I don't really think I can do it properly without someone…"Azula gave a look of disbelief. What sort of low class, mongrel martial art could be done without another person? How would you do Kata's? How would you practice? No… no it made sense. The dodging would require something to dodge and in order to use someone's body against them you'd need a body. It would be like trying to do a Fire Bending stance without being able to bend. You could ape it, but it wouldn't be the real thing. For that matter it probably __**was**__ a mongrel art. It had the flighty, dodging characteristics of air bending, just without the bending. Not that Azula cared, so long as it gave her power, the source was someone else's problem._

_Azula scanned the classroom. Almost all of the other girls had left, and the ones still left were bright enough to run out the door the moment the saw she was looking around. Finally her gaze fell upon a mat of partially burnt hair. So the bun girl, Mai, had come back to the class. Azula hadn't even noticed her come in. Azula smiled. "You. Get over here."_

OoOoOo

By the time the deer-rabbit arrived Azula was ready to kneel over from hunger. Its approach was quiet, and had Azula not been well versed in detecting the soft steps of Air Nomads, she might have missed it. Azula focused on the beast, waiting until it was between her and the water to spring her ambush. All of a sudden it stopped, sniffing the air. Azula's eyed widened. She'd hidden herself perfectly, kept silent, and it detected her by scent? That wasn't _fair. _She jumped down, trying to hit it with a fireball but, it had already hopped away amongst the trees.

"Arrrgh!" Azula yelled in an uncharacteristic display of crass and open frustration, or at least a display that she would like to think of as uncharacteristic. Azula took a deep breath in, then let a deep breath out. She needed to be calm. Frustration and anger were fine for fueling firebending, but she needed to control them, not let them control her. She took another deep breath, and began her personal relaxation technique. Slowly drawing her hands apart, and separating the chi. Pointing her finger out, she launched the lightening towards the river. No point in telling the Air Nomads she was here by firing it into the sky or blowing up a tree .

As the lighting began arcing along the riverm several fish floated up. Azula arms dropped to her side and stared. Then, quickly coming to her senses, Azula took off running towards the river, soaking her clothing again. By the time she had got there most of the dead fish had already floated downstream, but she managed to wade into the river and catch the last two. The last two nasty, slimy fish. She surveyed the river and noticed a few more had been caught along fallen branched or washed along the shore. Azula walked up and down the river to gather them. They weren't like any fish she'd ever seen, probably some nasty, Earth Kingdom fish, unlike proper Fire Nation fish. Azula was sure that nothing she'd eaten before looked like these. Then again the few times she'd eaten meat in the Fire Nation it had looked so much… cleaner, than what she'd seen Katara do.

"AAHH!" The fish she was carrying had been far enough away from the epicenter to be stunned, no killed, and was now struggling around _in her hand_.

Azula flung the fish away from her, splatting it into a tree. She then released a blast of fire just to make sure it was dead. As she calmed down she began to feel rather embarrassed. It was like those pathetic wastes in the academy who would shriek at every rat-shrew. Still, at least with the vermin she had never been expected to eat them, and besides it looked dead. If everything that was dead came back she'd be in a lot of trouble. So it was perfectly reasonable that she freaked out.

Azula walked back to the pile of fish. None of the others seemed to be flopping around. Now she just had to cook them. Right after the shipwreck they'd gotten a crate of fish and cooked those. So she figured she should be able to do the same here. All she had to do was get a few sticks, stick them through the fish and roast them over the fire. That's wasn't so hard.

Azula began searching for a few sticks. Once she had enough dropped most of them by the pile of fish. Holding on to one on the sticks with her, she picked up one of the fish with her left hand. Azula stared at the thing. It was disgusting, like the color of mud. She put it in the river, hoping to wash the dirt off, but it didn't help, it still looked like mud, and gave off a funny smell. Holding it up once more she gave a squeeze and shook it slightly to get it to open its mouth. She twisted her head away in disgust, and finally jammed the stick through its mouth.

The effect wasn't what she hoped. Rather than going through, the stick seemed to stop halfway, unable to piece the tough insides. Azula dropped it back on the pile. She thought for a few minutes before picking up a second stick. Placing her fingers on the tip of it Azula twisted them around them end. Smoke rose from the end, and she blew on it remove the ash. The effort wasn't perfect, it would have worked much better if she had had a knife to whittle the end, but the stick now had a crude point.

Once again Azula picked up a fish, washed it in the river, and attempted to jam the stick into the body of the fish. It didn't go it all the way, but did penetrate enough to stick to it. Liquid, that might have been blood, or might have been dirty water, or something else, flowed from the fish's mouth onto the stick. Azula set the fish on the ground and repeated the process. Once she had finished with all the fish Azula began gathering sticks to make a fire.

As she began roasting the fish some small part of her pointed out that a fire was a dead giveaway for any passing Air Nomads. This part was overruled by her stomach. Azula held up the first fish, cooking it had failed to make it look or smell any more appetizing. Which Azula didn't even think was possible. However, since hunger still held a majority vote, she bit into it.

She dropped the fish, clutching her aching jaw. The fish's skin was hard and bony, like trying to bite into a rock. If she had a knife she might have been able to cut through it, if she had a bowl she might have been able to boil it off. As was she was forced to inelegantly use her firebending; burning parts of the skin and then ripping them off. The underneath was even worse that the skin, mangled bit of unidentifiable organs meshed with burnt bits. The fish she had brought at the Southern tip of the Earth Kingdom had been almost all meat and muscle and even its skin was edible, but this, this was something completely different. Azula thought she could make out bits of the fish's last meal. Carefully, she picked a part of the fish that didn't look to disgusting. She held the slimy bit between her pointer finger and thumb before closing her eyes and swallowing.

Azula choked down her gag reflex as it went down. Not only did the fish taste as bad as it looked, but it hadn't cooked all the way through. Carefully, Azula tore off another bit, this time making sure to heat it till she could see the smoke coming off it. The burnt piece wasn't much of an improvement, but it was an improvement. She spent the rest of the afternoon and night trying to get a decent meal. Each fish had to be torn apart individually, and, between the skin, bones and unidentifiable organs that were probably poisonous, each one of the nasty things only had a few bites of meat on it.

By the time she fell asleep she was tired, miserable, her hands felt like they were permanently slimly, even after she washed them in the river, and her clothes were still soaked from getting the fish. Azula never wanted to see another fish as long as she lived.

OoOoO

_The eastern wind was considered a bad omen in the Fire Nation. Superstitious people associated it with the Air Nomads, and it was even said that all ills winds came from the Avatar. More practical people pointed out that these winds existed before the war. However, any who had served on the front lines learned to fear the winds for other reasons. Said winds usually preceded a storm. Not only did that reduce visibility and hamper Firebending (an advantage the Nomads would ruthlessly exploit) but their cowardly Earthbender allies would often dig underneath the fortresses and earthworks, weakening and causing them to collapse when the rains came._

_Azula, having studied war tactics extensively, knew all this. She also knew that they Air Nomads could not possibly get to the Imperial city, and as such was unperturbed by the wind and gathering clouds. Instead, she concentrated on her balance. "See, I can do it too-"_

_Azula was cut off as an unlucky gust of wind blew her into the fountain. A thoroughly soaked Azula picked herself of the fountain while Zuko and Ty Lee giggled in the background, Mai, who was a bit smarter, concentrated on the apple she brought. Azula sputtered as she climbed out of the fountain. Ty Lee stopped giggling the moment she saw Azula get out. Zuko was a tad less observant. She would deal with him later. _

_Azula walked over. "Why don't you show us how it's done?" Ty Lee brightened up, and cheerfully began walking over to the fountain. She stopped when Azula put a hand on her shoulder. "And just where do you think you're going?"_

"_Over to the fountain…" she began, knowing this wasn't going to end well._

_Azula shook her head. "No, I've already seen you do that. I think you should do something more challenging, like the edge of the roof."_

"_The… roof?"_

_Azula nodded. "Sure, you want to be an acrobat right? So get climbing." Ty Lee looked up one of poles, then she looked at Azula. Deciding on the safer choice, she wrapped her arms and legs around the pole, shimmying up it by releasing her legs and bringing them up to her arms, then holding on with her legs while she stretched her arms up. She made surprisingly quick progress._

_Azula turned her attention towards Zuko. "Want to play a game?"_

_Zuko shook his head. "I don't like your games."_

_Azula made a set hell-puppy eyes. "Mother said you should play with me more. Besides, I promise you won't get hurt." Azula grabbed the half-eaten apple out of Mai's hand and dragged her over to the fountain, placing it on her head. "All you have to do it knock the apple off her head." Azula finished, as Mai tried to avoid looking too grossed at halving a half-eaten piece of fruit on her head._

"_With what?" Zuko asked, his hands on his waist._

_Azula rolled her eyes. "With your Firebending dum dum. Like this." Azula struck out with two pointed fingers, bursting the apple into flame. Both Mai and Zuko took a moment to react, then Mai started screaming, and Zuko charged forward, knocking both of them into the water. Azula doubled over in laughter as the two of them struggled to untangle themselves while thunder echoed in the distance._

"_Um, Azula? I'm ready." Ty Lee called down from the edge of the roof. Azula watched as she made her way along the edge of the gutters. She smiled as she saw Ty Lee was struggling to avoid shaking in fear while the wind whipped around her. "I did it!" Ty Lee shouted, having made it to the next pole section. She bent down, lowering herself onto the pole._

"_You did it? Just where do you think you're going?" Azula asked._

"_But that was a long as all the way around the fountain."_

"_Well this isn't the fountain, is it? I want to see you go all the way around the courtyard." _

"_But I-" Azula's eyes narrowed, and Ty Lee reluctantly got on the roof again. This time it wasn't nearly as much fun for Azula. Ty Lee was already getting the hang of balancing on it, and the intimidation factor had diminished. By the time she rounded her first corner she was already doing it at a slight run. Azula hated the smug look on her face. Ty Lee was practically __**enjoying**__ it. Azula wanted to give her a few grazing shots, but with the winds like they were, she couldn't be sure of avoiding setting the roof on fire, and even she wouldn't be able to get away with that. .. Apparently the area had been her stupid dead uncle's favorite. "Weeee!" Ty Lee shouted as she began doing __**cartwheel**__s along the side. Azula gnashed her teeth, while Zuko and Mai watched with awe, and Zuko even began clapping._

_Suddenly stopped, looking towards the sky. Azula, sensing her unease, pounced "What? Are you scared? Hurry up."_

_Ty Lee looked back towards her. "But Azula, it's raining."_

_Azula, looked around she. Soon enough she felt a few drops on her hand, and the fountain was filled with ripples. "So what? Keep going."_

_Once again Ty Lee's eyes turned from the roof to Azula, and once again she chose the safer route. The storm, as they often do, broke soon afterwards, releasing a torrential downpour of rain. By the time Ty Lee had rounded the third corner the rain was so thick that Azula could have stayed in the fountain and gotten no wetter. She refused to go under the roof, wanting the best view of Ty Lee's fear. Not that she could actually see Ty Lee's face at the moment, but Azula had a fairly good imagination._

_Ty Lee's balance was near perfect, but in this rain near didn't cut it. Azula didn't even see the actual misstep, only heard the shout and made out the waving arms as Ty Lee desperately tried to regain her balance. The wind howled around the girl, turning and tossing and the rain continued to pour. For a brief second Azula thought she was going to make it. Then a crack of thunder tore across the courtyard, upsetting her delicate balance, and she plummeted down._

_Azula watched her fall, stealing herself for the crack when she hit the ground, but it never came. For a second Azula thought she saw Ty Lee floating, but when she ran closer she realized someone had caught her._

"_Are you alright?" The soft, yet powerful voice of Lu Ten asked._

"_I- I think so." Ty Lee responded, Azula clenched her fist. The little baby was trying to milk sympathy from her cousin, how dare she!_

"_It was dangerous to be up there."_

"_I didn't want to, but Azula made me." Azula clenched her teeth in rage, now the little tattletale was trying to get her in trouble. She would get her for this!_

"_I see," he said gravely. "Why don't you head inside?" He set her down, and Ty Lee ran through the door way. "Mai, Zuko? Why don't you go as well?"_

"_You're in trouble-" Zuko began in a singsong voice._

"_Zuko." Lu Ten warned, and without anther word her stupid brother rushed inside, cowed by his better. _

_Azula's joy at that evaporated once she saw Lu Ten's face. He was the Fire Lord, and almost as powerful as her father. Plus, for the last three years, he had regularly been out battling the Air Nomads. He had even given her one of the medallions as a gift once, she still kept the ashes in a little treasure box. Lu Ten was one of the few people she respected, and he did not look happy. "Azula, why did you send Ty Lee up there?"_

_She stared at the ground. "Well, I wanted to see her balancing."_

_He folded his arms. "I was here for quite a while. She wanted to go down when it started raining, do you realize she could have been hurt or killed?"_

_Azula struggled for an answer that he would find acceptable. "Casualties of troops are an acceptable loss for commanders, if they result in the accomplishment of or denial to the enemy of, strategic objective or larger goals." Mentally she let out a sigh of relief; that was straight from the Doctrine of War. And Lu Ten would surly understand that._

"_I see." But his tone indicated that he didn't. "Then tell me, just what did making her do it, even as it rained, accomplish? What did you gain that you did not already have? I expect an answer within a week." With that he went inside, and Azula was left standing there. His voice brokered no argument, and had the same undertones of potential punishment her father's did. Azula spent all night trying to think of an answer, she never was able to come up with one._

OoOoO

The night's sleep didn't help much. She was still tired, and now she was also miserably hungry once again, and there was no possible way she was eating another fish. At least she could now tell the direction, extrapolating from where the sun rose and the relative position of the the river it was flowing Northward, which was a bit of a blessing. Azula did not want to have to walk uphill.

Azula continued to walk, trying to keep her thoughts somewhere besides her hunger and the ache throughout her body. How had it come to this? Walking in the forest, with nothing. Oh Azula could see each individual action and they made some sort of sense, even if some of them had been luck of the worst sort. But somehow putting it all together… going from princess to here, it just made no sense.

She had been prepared for the capital to fall. Secret escape tunnels, even being captured or a heroic last stands, those she had been prepared for. Warned of what she would have to endure, and trained in how to kill herself with only her firebending. Though Azula had never really entertained the idea, somehow it had always seemed weak to her. She had been prepared to lead a resistance, strategy, tactics, speeches, all those had been drilled into her head since day one. Any of the royal family were expected to be able to lead without any help if need be. Theoretically even her brother Zuko had been prepared, though she doubted any amount of preparation could help him .

She should have gone with the original plan, to simply rendezvous within the Fire Nation itself. But Zhao, Zhao had to be warned, and how was she to know he was a traitor? Why had her father ever trusted the man anyway? He'd never done anything useful, only really being promoted because he survived. Azula wondered how long he'd been working with the Air Nomads. And now he and the other traitors… Azula fists clenched so hard they threatened to draw blood as she thought about the useless noble pretender who the Air Nomads had put on the throne. At least she knew that once she got back her opponent would be stupid. If she got back. Why had she insisted on heading for the Northern Water Tribe? If she'd headed straight for the Fire Nation-

She'd have probably been lost at sea when her ship sank. Being close to land was the only reason Katara had been able to get her to shore at all. Katara, that's whose fault this was, or rather her useless brother Sokka. His delay on Kyoshi Island gave away her location to Zhao. And the argument on the river. If Katara hadn't gotten uppity, they would have noticed the waterfall. So what if Azula had lied a bit? Katara still could have learned something. She should be grateful she would get this opportunity.

Azula shook her head, she needed to concentrate on the present, not the past. If she followed this river, hopefully she would find a town. Azula didn't have any money, but she was stealthy and quick enough she could take what she needed and catch a ride. Once she got North the only challenge would be to find passage. And if she could make it to Northern Water Tribe Waters she was home-free.

… and then what? Azula's plans relied on having a ship to contact the Resistance in her homeland. And she should have been there weeks ago, when the resistance was still forming. By now they could be all but wiped out. If she could even contact them-

Azula shook her head. No that was wrong. These thoughts were those of a defeatist. That was the last thing any Fire Nation patriot should think, especially a firebender. If she lost confidence, she lost her firebending. She knew Yue, she could surly get a ship of two. The Northern Tribe might be officially neutral, but they wouldn't be so foolish as think the Air Nomads wouldn't come after them next. They would help her, even if not officially. And all she had to do was make contact with resistance, not drive the Air Nomads off. All she had to do was keep the hotheads from fighting until the comet came, then they could be driven off forever.

Azula carefully tried to avoid thinking about how well the comet had worked last time, and was assisted in this by the distant sight of a small stone bridge spanning the river. Azula walked closer and stuck her head out of the ditch the river had long since carved in the ground. She was in luck, there was a dirt road on each side. Rivers might lead to civilization, but roads certainly did. Now all she had to do was figure out which path to take.

As she was looking down each path, she made out the faint sound of a cart traveling along. That was perfect. All she had to do was take out the owners and she could raid their supplies, not to mention get an ostrich-horse, and no chance of witnesses, unlike a town. Still, they might have guards.

Azula crouched down into the ditch, charging a blast in her hands. It was red, Azula frowned, she couldn't remember the last time her fire had been red. She must be far weaker than she though, perhaps she should reconsider-

"AMBUSH!"

Azula's eyes widened, how had they seen her? It didn't matter now, she spun around, standing up tall and delivering every bit of fire she could muster. A stream came out, far wider than she would have liked, reminding her more of Zhao's blasts than her own. Her second shock came when it almost simultaneously hit someone (at least if the scream was any indication), and was stopped by an earth wall. Why had they been outside the earthbent wall?

Azula didn't have much time to contemplate as she heard the distinct sound of boulders being bent out of the earth. She ducked behind a tree, but nothing came, as she could hear the rocks impacting, but she couldn't see any, either flying past where she had been or impacting against the tree. What was going –

Azula slapped her forehead, a second ambush! She couldn't believe she didn't think of it sooner, she was in worse shape than she thought. Well, she already charred one of the ambushers, time for a change of plans. Azula ran towards the sound of battle, the armor the guards wore made it easy to tell the two groups apart. Azula aimed a small blast at one of the swordsman's heads, it wasn't nearly enough to kill him, but it was enough to distract him, allowing the guard to finish the job. Azula then aimed a much more powerful blast at the side of one of the bandit's earthbenders. The blast exploded, killing the man easily. Azula frowned, she couldn't even see a single piece of exposed bone on the body, how weak was she? Still, at least he was dead.

The bandits, surprised at both the unexpectedly strong guards, and the appearance of a firebender, beat a hasty retreat. Azula walked slowly over to the caravan, trying to regain as much strength as she could. As she got closer to the caravan, a small, slightly balding man came out. Azula instantly raised her estimation of him, he was wearing armor instead of ordinate clothing, between that and the guards this man clearly wasn't stupid.

"Thank, thank you so much for you help. We might have been in a spot of trouble there otherwise." He gave a small chuckle. He stopped, thinking for a moment." Oh I'm sorry , my name is Yuan Jin, and you are?"

"Mai," Azula supplied.

He nodded. "I see. So, Mai, what is a firebender doing so far out here?

Azula gave a dismissive shrug. "Heading to Bei Mian, to look for work."

"Not sure a lot of people there would want to hire firebenders."

"Has to be better than the Fire Nation. No way I'm sticking my neck out against the Avatar." Azula made sure to sound as unconcerned as she could.

He nodded again. "I see…. Tell you what, I'm actually headed that way right now. Given your skills I'd be willing to take you on as guard, the pay's fourteen yuens a day, plus free meals. Interested?"

OoOoOo

Yuan Jin was a successful merchant, and that meant that, despite certain stereotypes by the aristocratic, artisan, and peasant classes, he was quite smart; combining a keen insight for opportunity with a good ability to read people. Yuan Jin was also one of the few who ran his caravan through the mountains, and that meant that he was a risk taker. At the same time Yuan Jin was a living mountain caravan owner, which meant he also had a sensible degree caution and ability to recognize danger.

It was his ability to read people that caused him to realize that "Mai" was the rogue Fire Nation princess Azula. Not that hard with all the posters, but she certainly didn't look the same: her fire was the wrong color and she didn't look nearly as clean as the posters, but Yuan could still recognize her. It was his risk taking that caused him to offer her a spot, keeping her close in order to capitalize on it. Plus, he was half certain that if he hadn't she would have attacked, and even if she had been brought down, there was a good chance of killing several of his guards and winding up dead herself, and all the rewards wanted her alive.

Now, looking at her sleeping form by the campsite, it was his healthy sense of caution that kept him from ordering anything. She tried to hide it, but she had wolfed down the food, and had clearly been nearly dead on her feet. A foolish man would have struck the moment she went to sleep, thinking it was the perfect time. But Yuan realized that if she had been that powerful when she was hungry and tired, she would be much more powerful when she was only tired. Not to mention the way she slept was alike to his best guards, it was likely they would be unable to cuff her before she awoke. Yuan had seen what her blast had done to the earth wall, he doubted simple stone cuffs would hold her.

No, it was best to allow her to go. The reward would have been nice, but it was not essential. He and his family back already lived a comfortable life, and he knew too many others who had died determined to make "one last trip" before winter, or take a shortcut through bandit territory. The risk was not worth the reward. He would take her to Bei Mian and then collect on the smaller reward for information. Yuan took one last look at the sleeping princess before going to bed himself.

OoOoOoO

_It had been two days since the courtyard incident, and Azula still didn't have an answer. Not even an inkling of one. She had done it to make sure Ty Lee learned to respect her, but somehow she knew Lu Ten would just claim she already had her respect, and that rain meant she wasn't able to see the balancing so that excuse was out. Azula was slowly developing an undercurrent of panic, it was only two days in, but she still didn't have anything. Which is why she was currently hiding behind the curtain in the Hall of the Fire Lord, hoping to get some inspiration from watching the proceedings._

_The meeting was big, filled with generals, and even those of lesser rank, but very few nobles. The meeting had been called to discuss the war. And if the number of guards were any indication, someone was not going to be happy._

_Lu Ten took his seat behind the flames, and then watched as everyone knelt before him. "Ozai?" He said, looking towards the only standing figure (save the guards) in the room. Ozai, blinked in surprise, then knelt as well. Lu Ten allowed a few moments of silence before continuing. "As you are all aware, in a few months I will become sixteen, and able to fully take the position of Fire Lord. As such I will no longer have need of a regent to oversee the realm."_

_Ozai shot up. "What! This is an insult. I have been nothing but faithful-" _

_Lu Ten continued, in the cold, harsh voice that Azula thought of as his 'command' voice. Normally she loved to see people squirm under it. "There is no insult, uncle. Save what you wish to perceive. Just as my father and father's father took control, so must I. You have been an able and loyal teacher, but a regent is not longer needed."_

_Ozai shook his head, calming down. He knelt back down. "But you still young, and it would be foolish to ignore the advice of one who has lived through so much of the war. I carry this wisdom of your father."_

"_And I shall still listen to you advice, Uncle. It will be of much use in the coming days. Without your advice to take the front lines I would have never realized how depleted and demoralized our army is. How much we have sacrificed to hold the territory we still have."_

"_Casualties of troops are an acceptable loss for commanders, if they result in the accomplishment of, or denial to the enemy of, strategic objective or larger goals." Ozai replied patronizingly._

"_Yes." Lu Ten's voice was ice by now. "Your daughter was helpful enough to remind me of that two days ago." Azula shrank behind the curtains, she just knew this was going to get in trouble with father. She didn't like this, not at all. She could sense the shift in power, from daddy to Lu Ten, and that they were fighting. She wasn't sure what she wanted. Before it had always been easy to pick a side, pick the stronger side, and daddy was the strongest. But now it felt like Lu Ten was stronger, and he had manipulated that meeting like she would have, she wasn't sure what to think._

"_And it has kept the city safe-"_

"_SIR!" A messenger burst into the room. "We just got a signal from one of the towers; Air Nomad assassins have infiltrated the city."_

_Lu Ten spoke calmly, but his voice still held a hint of mockery. "Really, and just how were they not spotted until now?" _

"_I don't know honor Lord, but I believe they snuck near the city during the storm. And then blitzed one of the towers with the reduced garrisons-"_

"_I see," said Lu Ten, while Ozai shot the messenger a look so intense Azula thought he might spontaneously combust. Lu Ten gave a sweep of his arm, smothering out the fire around throne and walking forward. "Those who can fight, come with me. Those who cannot, head to a safe area. With assassins about conventional tactics are useless. Come, uncle, we have work to do."_

_Azula wrapped the curtain around herself, hoping no one saw her as they left the room. Once the last one was gone she sat there, thinking. That conversation had shifted her entire world. She had always been the daughters of Ozai, the most powerful man in the nation, but now. Now that was changing, and she had no idea what it meant. Plus she was in trouble with Father, and after that she didn't think there was any answer that would satisfy Lu Ten._

_Azula soon realized she was shaking. That was, pathetic. Her! She took a few deep breaths to calm down. The first things she needed to do was get back to her room without being seen. If she was found to be out while an assassination attempt was going on, she'd been in way more trouble. Azula crept out of her hiding place. All the guards had left the throne room._

_Azula made her way to the two great doors which marked the entrance. She grabbed one of the handles, using her entire body to move the heavy door. Just barely peeking out she saw that the guards by the doors had also left. Azula scrambled outside, hiding amongst the bushes and hoping not to be seen._

_It was kind of weird, walking the streets when they were so deserted. Still, at least she managed to get around without being caught. With a sigh of relief she entered her house, walking to her room. All of a sudden Azula heard the sound of movement. Heading to the source, Azula realized it came from the hallway near her parents' bedroom. She looked around the corner, then ducked back as quick as she could. Two figures had stood in the hallway, dressed in thick, dark grey robes. _

_Azula carefully kept her back to the wall, charging up a fireblast in case they came her way. A light breeze flew through the hallway, blowing out the candles, and the entire place was plunged into darkness. Or almost darkness, as Azula's charged blast was still visible, and by the intense whispers it was clear they had noticed it. Azula breathed out as she heard them charging towards her. The first one turned the corner, and fired an arrow straight where her neck would have been is she was full grown. Azula retaliated with her blast, which hit the nun full on in the face, and she was rewarded with and ear piercing howl._

_The second nun rounded the corner, deflecting Azula's uncharged blasts with a wave of her hand. "A child?" she asked in confusion. She initially hesitated, but Azula's assault convinced her otherwise, dropping her bow and drawing her staff. She sent a burst of air which sent Azula flying into the wall, knocking out all the air in her lungs._

"Jigme _are you alright?"  
_

_The one Azula had burned got up, gently touching the side of her face. "Argh. I'm going to need to be treated. Who was that kid?"_

"_I believe that is princess Azula. We should go, the regent doesn't seem to be here and they are aware of the attack."_

" _Yeah, but I think a hostage will do just as well."_

"_The others wouldn't approve of this." The first one warned._

"_They will if it ends the war." Jigme advanced upon her._

_Azula tried to send a few blast of fire, but they were pitiful, she was too filled with fear to truly bring fire. Finally out of options, Azula screamed. _

"_Quiet princess, don't make this any harder than-"_

_The door to her parent's room slammed open, and her mother ran out. At least it had to be her mother, the body build and hair were right, or at least they sort of looked right, it was so dark Azula could barely tell and that was the only women who would be in her parent's bedroom. But the way she moved, it made Ty Lee look clumsy and slow, and Azula had never seen her so… vicious, if not for watching her with her own eyes Azula would have sworn her mother was too weak to be a real fighter. But the evidence was in front of her. Before Azula, or either of the Xuan Feng, knew what was happening Ursa was upon the first one. Azula couldn't make out what happened, but all of a sudden there was a horrible cracking sound, and the body fell limp. _

_Azula couldn't remember what happened after that. The next thing she knew her mother's arms were around her. "It's all right. Don't cry they're gone now. Your safe." Azula blinked, she…w as crying? As if waking from a dream Azula realized that her face was wet with tears, this realization only made her cry harder. Ursa continued to try to sooth her, to assure her that everything would be. Azula wanted to yell at her, to tell her that she wasn't upset because of them, she was upset because crying. Because she was so weak, so pathetic she couldn't even take two with the advantage of surprise. She had screamed like a helpless child. Azula wanted to yell all this, but somehow the only thing that would come out of her mouth were sobs, and she found herself pulling closer to her mother._

_Azula was lifted off the ground, carrying her to her room. Azula risked one backward glance at the carnage then buried herself in her mother's arms. The second assassin had been impaled upon her own staff. Azula didn't remember falling asleep that night, just continuing to shiver and cry._

_OoOoOo_

_Azula spent two days avoiding her mother. It wasn't hard, and it wasn't like she had anything else to do. Lu Ten's order had never been officially lifted, but somehow Azula doubted he cared now. So for the past two days Azula had been trying to answer another riddle. She had attacked the problem from all angles and had come up with nothing. Which is why she had gotten desperate, and resorted to the only thing she could think of._

_Ursa turned towards her daughter as she entered the room. "Azula? Is there something you want to talk about?"_

_Azula shifted to one side or another. Finally she spit it out in big torrent. "Why? Why did you come? Why are you so strong? And why was I so weak?"_

_Ursa looked at her, and an awkward silence fell upon the room. "Why did I come? What do you mean?" Ursa laughed, as if the question was somehow a joke. "You're my daughter, and you're precious to me."_

_Azula had had enough, she hated being laughed at. "I'm not precious to you. Zuko's the one who's precious to you."_

"_Do, do you really believe that?" The shock was evident in her voice. "Do you really think I don't care about you?"_

_Azula looked down at the ground. "Well…." Regaining her confidence, Azula once again met her mother's eyes. "Yes. Father's the one who trains me. Father's the one who sees my Fire Bending, I'm valuable to him, unlike Zuko."_

"_Azula… you are my daughter. I love just because of who you are. I'd love you no matter what. And while your father may sometimes be distant, but he cares about Zuko just as much. People don't only associate with people because they are useful. What about your friends, would they abandon you just because you weren't useful?"_

"_Of course not, they fear me." Azula said, unable to completely hide the pride in her voice._

_Ursa stayed silent for a long time before answering. "And what if someone else scared them more?"_

"_No one's scarier than me." Even as she said it she knew it was a lie, if Mai and Ty Lee had been with her two nights ago they would have likely cut and run._

_Ursa sighed. "Your father and Lu Ten have decided that both of us will be heading to the Northern Water Tribe in a week."_

_Azula cocked her head and folded her arms. "Just us?"_

"_Among the royal members family, yes. Zuko will be staying here, and I am now in agreement with them." Azula caught the 'now' and mentally groaned as she realize that she was determined to 'get to know her daughter' during the trip._

_OoOoOo_

_Azula had been right about the trip. Mom had insisted and spending time with her, watching her firebending practice, playing Pai Sho, and talking. Luckily by now Azula had recovered her composure, and was able to smile, nod politely and say exactly what her mother wanted to hear. And it wasn't quite as intolerable as she had first thought._

_By the end of the day Azula had come to a few conclusions. The first was that while love was a stupid and foolish emotion, her mother was genuine about, and did not, in fact have some secret plan for Zuko to use him to benefit her in some way. Furthermore, if one person was so foolish as to truly believe in love, it was likely that some of the other people spouting this insanity were also sincere. While Azula herself would not fall into this trap, it could still be useful. This tied into her next conclusion. Which was that, much as she hated to admit it, her mother had a point. She was never going to get stronger than the Avatar, and even if she became the strongest firebender in the world, superior numbers were still a danger. If her friends just feared her they would run when this occurred. Clearly she had to make them care, and acting like a 'real' friend was probably the best way. Azula breathed in, she long learned how to act respectful and appropriate for formal occasions, acting nice could be any harder, could it? Plus, they were headed to a place she'd never been so no one would know her, hopefully she could find someone to practice on there._

_**Epilogue**__: _Azula took another sip, she couldn't exactly say what it was she was sipping, but she took a sip. She was somewhat drunk, but that was okay, cause she had a _plan. _ She'd arrived at Bei Mian earlier in the day, and spent most of the day at the ship yards. That stupid peasant merchant had probably ratted her out by now, but just in case he didn't Azula was now at a tavern/inn full of mercenaries, bounty hunters and cutthroats. One of them would recognize and report her. After she rented a room she would slip out from the city under the cover of night. Anyone planning to attack her would wait till she was asleep, and the Air Nomads wouldn't get to the city to do anything for a day or two. When they found she was gone, they'd think she was already off to the North, and stop looking here. Then she could find a ride in one of the small coastal towns. Azula chuckled, she was so clever.

The other patrons, turned towards the laughing, but that was it. She had a table to herself. Earlier one of the drunken louts had tried to come on to her, and while Azula did appreciate that even uncultured idiots could see her beauty, she had no patience for it. She sent him off with a genuine "firebender's sunburn". Bet Sokka would have shown her a bit more respect if he knew she could do that.

Azula slammed down her drink, thinking about those two. Those two stupid foolish... fools. If they were here it would be so much easier they were so useful- no she meant they were useless- or useful, but only as tools….- Azula fell back in her chair, her ability to self-deceive impaired by the drink. She missed them. She missed Katara's awe at every bit of firebending. She missed Katara's respect. She missed Sokka's amusing screw-ups. She missed Sukara homicidal appetite. She even missed Sokka's sniping, _no one_ verbally sparred with her back at the palace, even Mai would only make the occasional indirect comment. It was refreshing, and she might even be willing to admit the battle of wits was a little fun, even if it was with an idiot.

It wasn't supposed to happen like this. She wasn't supposed to get _attached_ to them. Why had she let herself, why had she- Azula leaned forward, and let out half-drunk, half-hysterical laughter. Now she could see the entire cosmic joke, thank you alcohol, bringer of insight! She'd been tricked, by her own mother, the one person she though least capable of it. Azula had realized that people grew attached to you when you acted nicer, but she'd never realize that she couldn't keep up the act. The very act of being friendly and having them like you back bound her to them. But that wasn't the funniest part of the joke. Oh no. The best part was Mai and Ty Lee. She started acting nice to them to make better tools, so that they would defend her even when they should have ran away ,and they had. It had worked, exactly as planned. Except when it did work she didn't want them to anymore. Between this, and the princess of the Fire Nation now taking on the identity of a drunk mercenary in the Earth Kingdom, it was clear her life was one big giant, cosmic joke. Azula gave another long laugh, before falling back in her chair.

She signaled for the bartender, she needed another drink.

**Author's note**: So yeah, there you have it, my explanation for Azula's differences. I think this fits in with what we saw in canon. In canon Azula, despite treating her 'friends' horribly, wasn't able to totally distance herself from them, hence the breakdown. So obviously she's not able to completely emotionally distance herself. Here Azula attempted to act nicer initially to help herself, but found herself getting genuinely entangled in caring about them. And once you do it once, it becomes habit forming.

Also "firebender's sunburn"is the same thing as an 'Indian sunburn' (grab victims arm with both hands, twist in opposite directions to stretch and making the skin stretch really painfully). A genuine one can only be performed by a firebender, and included heating your hands to make it even more painful.

Also if anyone's wondering how Ursa managed to impale someone with the blunt Air Nomad staff... good question. Keep in mind it was dark, and Azula was not in a calm mind, so Azula might have been seeing something else and thought it was that.

Wow, this took entirely to long. My next chapter is already off to my beta, so it should be coming along soon. Sokka's chapter is last, and I'm not sure how long it's going to be. On the one hand it's one of the one's I don't have fully planned out, which usually means a long time, but it's also short, or at least should be (not because I don't love Sokka, but because it's the only one that doesn't have a ton of extra backstory included).


	16. The deserter

Fair waning, high dialogue- low action chapter

**The rise and fall of the Air Empire**

**Expert from chapter 4**

As discussed before there is some truth to the idea of a "100 Year Empire". However, it is mostly fiction. Similarly, there is some truth to the idea of the 100 Year War, but it is also mostly fiction. Part of this is a result of Fire Nation nationalists, who like to claim that they survived the wrath of the Avatar for a century), though even the most casual of observers can find the hole in that statement. However, the idea of 100 year war mainly persists for the same reason the 100 year empire does: a good story. All the similar motifs between 1125 and 1225 that applied for the empire apply here as well.

Before I begin discussing the falsehood, I should take a moment to acknowledge the single truth. It _is_ true that national hostilities between the Air Nomads and Fire Nation did _officially_ begin in 1125 and end in 1225. However, 'rogue' units from both sides would continue hostilities for at least another five to twenty years.

With that acknowledgement out of the way, let us begin with the problems. The first problem is the idea that the "war" was one single continuous war. In actuality the war can be divided into anywhere between two to six separate conflicts. I personally have opted to divide it into three sections, though for completeness's name I will note where others choose to further subdivide it.

The first war was the Fire Nation expansion. Occasionally this war is dived into the "Roku" and "Post Roku" wars. The "Pre-Roku, expansion began in 1082 an entire _Forty-three years_ before the supposed start of the war. And, certain propaganda aside, there were military hostilities in the area. Nor can it be ascribed to the idea of scattered bandits or raiders attacking the colonies as Earth Kingdom maps from as late as 1087 list both towns and kingdoms in the areas settled. The "Roku" expansion ended in 1088 with Avatar Roku's confrontation of Sozin and destruction of the colonies.

Even discounting this phase, as it did not involve the Nomad's, one must still acknowledge the "Post-Roku" phase which began a mere year after his death in 1113. There is no possible way the logistics and plans for an expansion of that magnitude could have been organized in such a short time unless it had been planned well in advance of Roku's death. Furthermore the early expansions followed the exact same paths as the original colonies, clearly indicating that it was merely a continuation of the original.

The expansion ended in 1125 with Sozin's disastrous attack on the Air Nomads. While some feel this is a separate part of the war, contemporary accounts do not back that up. Though there are few surviving copies of the plan, and Sozin ordered it burned after his defeat, but the scattered remains indicate the operation was to be finished by the end of the comet, and was regarded as merely a single operation in a larger war.

From 1125 until 1129 the world remained fairly peaceful. The Fire Nation didn't have the numbers to attack and the Alliance was hoping that the Avatar could force a resolution. After the council of Fire Nation generals assumed stewardship and rebuffed further orders to leave, they realized it was not to be. It was not until 1134 that the alliance was prepared to act. A combine army began marching on the occupied Earth Kingdom territory. The specifics of myths centered around are further discussed in chapter 5, which also list further readings on the period (remember this book is not to examine the overall time period, but rather to correct popular myths regarding it).

The essential tragedy of the war was that both sides wanted to cease hostilities. The alliance was only interested in retaking the conquered territory, and hoped to avoid a long and costly war against the Fire Nation. Meanwhile the generals of the Fire Nation had long concluded that that winning the war was impossible. However a series of cultural obligations and a lack of open communication between the two sides made any negotiation impossible. Normally it would be the Avatar's job, but with Sozin's death the Avatar was considered hostile to the Fire Lord.

While the communication hurt, without other factors it would likely have lead to a mere "cold war". With Sozin's death, Azulon ascended the throne at a mere four years of age. During his childhood a council of generals ruled in his steed. While they were intellectually aware that they could not win, the Fire Nation concept of "stewardship" (that servants must keep a house in pristine condition while the master is away) prevented them from acting. They felt honor bound to attempt to keep the territory his father had left, and continued to resist even when they knew it was hopeless. This resistance, combine with the propaganda of "no surrender" and "eternal victory" fed to the common solders, created the impression among the Air Nomads and Earth Kingdoms that the Fire Nation actively believed it could hold out, and would never surrender.

Even this might still not have lead to the full invasion, if not for one fatal miscalculation by the Air Nomads. While the Fire Nation was determined to resist for honors sake, they were ultimately prepared to lose the territory they had taken in the first war, but were not willing to lose what they considered the "home islands". Similarly, the alliance had no intention in taking them, being merely after their original territory. The problem revolved around exactly what was considered Fire Nation territory. Specifically, a small piece of rock known as Crescent Island.

The Alliance felt that the territory was not the Fire Nation's belonging instead to the Avatar, and with their insistence on venerating the Fire Lord instead of the Avatar, the Fire Nation had lost the right to oversee it. It is rather ironic, but the taking of the island was considered an incredibly minor operation. The operation was actually supported by only a small faction, but it was considered such a minor operation that they were able to undertake it by themselves. The actual battle was barely even worth mentioning, half the monks refused to fight, and another faction actively aided the invaders, cheering the return to the old ways.

While the taking of Crescent Island was considered utterly unimportant by the alliance, the same could not be said for the Fire Nation. Indeed, is sent a panic through the upper echelons. Not only had they taken one of the home islands, but a _sacred_ one at that. It may seem surprising that Alliance planners discounted this, but from their perspective if the Fire Nation was willing to so quickly change from venerating the Avatar to the Fire Lord, they clearly couldn't be that respectful of the spirit. The panic was huge, if they were willing to take a home island, then they weren't going to stop.

With the taking of Crescent Island, Azulon _had_ to act. To do otherwise would have made him loose face, and threatened revolt and lose of the throne. So a plan was drawn up. A multi-pronged attack was to be made across several fronts. Even the Avatar couldn't be everywhere at once. The main fleet would head to Crescent Island with Azulon as its head. Once the initial attack was completed diplomats would attempt to sue for peace using captured territory as concessions.

The attack suffered from two fatal flaws. The first was the underestimation of the Air Nomad communication and travel abilities. After the disaster at the Western Air Temple, the Xuan Feng were able to send their best bison on a marathon run across the Fire Nation. They managed to reach the Western edge before the attack and warn the rest of the alliance. Meanwhile, the Fire Nation, lacking the communication abilities of the Air Nomads, sailed off having no idea of the failed attack or any clue that the Alliance knew they were coming.

Unsurprisingly, the attempted counter-attack failed miserably. Avatar Aang meant Azulon's fleet head on and sent it to the bottom of the sea. Meanwhile, the other attacks were meant not with lightly guarded patrols, but determined resistance, and earthbent walls.

It was after the attack that the second flaw in the plan revealed itself. The affect on the Air Nomad psyche. The Fire Nation, unwilling to acknowledge it's attempted genocide ( a denial that sadly persists to this day) was unable to understand the horror the Air Nomad's felt at the Sozin's comet attack. Instead merely regarding it as a standard military invasion. As such they were unable to understand that the Air Nomads saw this attack as an attempted repeat, down to invading the temples (even if it was only the Western this time, many were convinced that was only because they were stopped early.) Secondly the Air Nomads, not knowing the importance of Crescent Island, saw it as an attack that came _for absolutely no reason_ and _after the war was already over_. As at that point the Air Nomads considered the war over, and were merely patrolling the islands against any future Fire Nation aggression. Finally, with the death of Azulon, the Fire Nation again had no leader of age, and could not properly negotiate.

This was the straw that started the third war. After this attack the Air Nomads became convinced that the Fire Nation was unstoppably aggressive, and the only way to end the threat was an unconditional surrender and dismantlement of the regime…

**Avatar: Last Firebender**

**Book 1, Chapter 15**

**The Deserter**

….

Katara's head hurt, again. The last thing she remembered was going over the waterfall. She had caught a glimpse of the sharp rocks at the bottom and tried to waterbend the water upwards to catch them and then… it was all a blur. Katara let out a groan as she dragged herself onto dry land. "Sokka? Sukara?... Anyone?"

She managed to sit up and began to look around. The river had ended at a lake, at least if the calm water was any indication. She couldn't really tell, because the entire area was covered in mist. She could barely see five feet in any direction. Katara stood up: sitting around wasn't going to do any good. She needed to find where Sokka and Sukara washed up, then they could…. They could….

Katara sank back down. What was she going to do? She'd bet everything on learning waterbending. Left home, risked death, and now…

…..

…..

….

What was she going to do? Come home with her tail between her legs? She couldn't, she… she… she needed to go find Sokka and Sukara. They'd probably washed up somewhere along the shore of the lake. Katara got to her feet. She stretched out her right arm and made a sweeping motion. The mist swept to one side. She walked forwards, sweeping her arms as she went to keep the mist at bay.

OoOoOo

"Hmmmm." Jamyang looked down from his glider. When an Air Nomad first learned to fly, it wasn't the flight that was often the problem, it was the landing. Now, with the mist covering the area he was like a child again. He couldn't be sure where the ground was, and landing too fast was a recipe for a broken ankle, or worse. He should have thought of this, given the name was the "Misty Mountains". It was uncharacteristically foolish of him not to. He had been overeager, almost desperate to finally end this chase. Honestly he didn't even know it was the right scent, June could be on the proper trail, but… he was sure this was right, it had to be.

Jamyang made another pass when a burst of inspiration struck him. He folded in his glider, putting it on his back. As he fell to the ground he began turning one hand over another, creating a small sphere of wind. Finally he forced the sphere under himself, and began to ride it to the ground. As it touched the ground it zoomed forward, carrying Jamyang along with it. A second later he was thrown off, landing face first on the ground.

Jamyang slowly got up, dusting himself off. "Avatar's Aang's Air Scooter. I suppose I deserved that for skimping on an Avatar's technique simply because it was 'frivolous'." Jamyang chuckled. "Nothing broken, now let's see…"

Jamyang pulled out a small lantern. It was fairly typical of Air Nomad craftsmanship, made of simple materials, yet the workmanship was excellent. Oddly enough, the frame of the lantern appeared to be made of wood. The six sides were made of something that might have been paper, or might have been glass. Along the edges of the lantern various words were carved in several different languages. Some common, some obscure, some ancient, and at least on that otherwise had not been seen above ground for several hundred years. Each of the sides was decorate with an odd figure, like someone had crossed a wolfbat, Whale-wolf, and a bear dog, and then stretched the result out like a piece of dough. The ears were especially odd, flattened and stretched, they flopped down like dead pieces of meat along the side.

"ExelI." Jamyang intoned in a strange tongue. The lantern brightened up, its light piercing through the mist with ease. Jamyang turned the lantern around, looking as each face closely. Holding the lantern with his left hand, he carefully placed his right pointier finger on the side of the lantern. He then traced the outline of the figure. "Duni uav."

Slowly light poured forth from the side of the lantern. The light was….odd. While it was clearly light, but it flowed like smoke, slowly pouring out of the lantern. As it did so, the side of the lantern turned dark. Finally the light began to take shape, forming into a creature that looked exactly like the figure on the lantern. Jamyang repeated the process twice more, so that there were three figures, and every other side of the lantern was dark. He turned to the new arrivals "Hu gopf vji eweves."

The creatures took off. Jamyang followed behind them, their glowing footprints guiding his way.

OoOoOo

This was bad. Katara had managed to get herself turned around and lose the shoreline in the mist. Worse, the mist seemed to be closing in, her waterbending wasn't working. It wasn't like it became harder to bend, more like it just became… unbendable, like it wasn't even there. It was the difference between trying to push a rock and trying to push the air. Finally giving up, Katara let her arms down: the fog didn't change at all.

Katara continued to walk forward, "Sokka, Sukar- OW!" Katara shouted, walking straight into a tree and falling backwards. She rubbed her nose as she got up. That wasn't good, the tree would probably be at least ten feet from the shore, and in this fog, that might as well have been a mile. Slowly she began walking, groping around with her arms to make sure she didn't walk into any more trees.

"SOKKA!"

"SUKARA!"

"SOKKA!"

"SUKARA. HERE BOY!"

"HELLO?"

"IS ANYONE HERE?"

"SOKKA!"

"SUKARA!"

OoOoOo

Katara stopped. This wasn't getting anywhere. She been at it for a while, it felt like hours, except she wasn't tired, or hungry, and the perpetual fog hadn't gotten any darker….

Slowly, cautiously, she put her hand to her chest. A second later she breathed a sigh of relief. She could still feel her heartbeat. It had been a stupid thought anyways.

A single howl pierced through the mist. Katara looked around "SUKARA?" A second bark came from another direction, it was way to high pitched to be Sukara. Katara began to get worried, they sounded like some sort of hunting pack. Not having any stinkfish on her, Katara took the next best option and began flaying her arms out, feeling for a tree. When her hand finally touched wood she circled around the tree, looking for a branch to climb.

Finally her hand found decent branch and Katara began climbing the tree. The barking grew louder and louder. As she got onto the first branch, she reached up, feeling for a second branch. There was nothing. The barks grew louder, and Katara could now make out growls coming from below. She desperately stretched out her arm, trying to find another branch to grab out.

Katara gave a yell of surprise as she found something grab back, pulling her up into the tree. She found herself face to mask with the Blue Spirit. "But, I, how!?" she stammered.

The Blue Sprit responded by turning and climbing higher up. Katara sat on the branch for a moment before the growls and barks below convinced her to follow. When Katara reached the top the Blue Spirit was already waiting for her. Stopping to catch her breath, she once again placed her hand on her chest, her heart was still beating. "I thought," Katara paused to catch her breath. "You were stuck in the Spirit World?"

"We are in the Spirit World." The Blue Spirit replied.

"But my heart's still beating." Katara protested.

His head cocked to the left. "Your heartbeat, what about your breath?...Oh, right! Waterbender. I supposed you would notice that first. The difference is before you were in the Spirit World in spirit, now you are physically in the spirit world."

"That's possible?"

The Blue Spirit began pacing around. "Normally no, then again, it's normally not possible to simply cross over to the Spirit World simply by meditating under a bear statue. So tell me, how did you do that?" The Blue spirit chuckled.

"Aunt Wu gave me some-"

"Wait _Aunt_ Wu?" The Blue Spirit whirled around. "Tell me, was this 'Aunt' Wu a fortune teller who was about 50ish years old with a penance for too much make-up?"

Katara rubbed the back of her neck. "Um… Yes. Do you know her?"

The only response was hysterical laughter for a full minute and he doubled over. Finally he began to calm down. "Ho, ho. So the old fraud's still around. So, hehe, tell me, how exactly did she 'help' you?"

Katara answered, feeling very awkward. "Well, she gave me some spirit water from The Northern Oasis… which I drank, and it helped me get here, or there, or-."

"I see." His voice turned serious again. "To answer you original question. I can only speculate, but I imagine the water stayed with you."

"But-"

"Not physically!" He put his sleeve to the forehead of the mask. "Honestly, was I ever so young? What I meant is that drinking water like that is powerfully spiritual, like being touched by the moon or ocean spirit. Even after it has physically left you, it still leaves a mark. Not one that can be seen, but of a spiritual nature, and in places such as this you can cross over."

"Places such as this? Where am I?" Katara asked, once again looking around. They were above the mist cover now, though the view wasn't much better. All around her a floor of mist stretched as far as the eye could see, broken up by the occasional treetop sticking out. In the background she could make out several mountains, but they looked… not distant exactly, but not exactly reachable either. They reminded her more of paintings of mountains than real mountains.

"A place avoided by any sane man, spirit, or beast. The valleys of fog. The valley of fog are a place where the…. Let us call them barriers, for simplicity's sake. The barriers between the Spirit World and the Material World are thin, and the two tend to mix."

"Which is how I got here!" Katara asked, brightening up. Then her face fell as she realized the implications. "So how do I get out?"

The Blue Spirit hesitated. "I'm not exactly sure, but I believe that if you exit the Misty Mountains you will come back to the material world, as it is your natural home."

"But how can I get out? I'm stuck in this tree, and I can't even see my hand in the fog. Plus those _things_." Kaatara gave a shiver.

The Blue Spirit let out another amused chuckle, Katara decided it suited him much more than his usual dour mood. "Oh really? Might I suggest you look down at my feet."

Katara gave a gasp. "You -- you're floating! But how?"

He walked forward and bent down, putting the mask directly in front of her face. "Lesson one of the Spirit World: it's weird. The fog is solid on top. Now come on, I imagine you want to find your friends."

"I want to find my _brother_. I don't have any friends with me."

"Oh really? I'm sorry. I thought that the Fire Nation girl you were traveling with-"

Katara folded her arms. "We're not friends. She just used me, and how do you know about her?" she snapped.

The Blue Spirit turned his head to avoid her eyes. "I may be stuck in the Spirit but I'm not entirely without knowledge of the Material. "

"Oh…. Sorry." Katara looked at her feet.

"Don't worry. But it sounds like you've got a story behind that. The mist is large and it's going to be a long walk, want to talk about it while we travel?" The Blue spirit asked, before turning around and heading out.

Katara stepped out to follow him. "Well it all started when –AHH!" Katara was cut off as she began to fall through the fog. A second later she felt her left arm being caught.

"Sorry, about that." He said as he pulled her up. "Some of the areas of fog aren't as thick and it's possible to fall through. Just follow after me and you should be fine. I know the way around, and if I don't at least you'll have warning when I disappear." He gave another amused laugh.

Katara didn't think it was very funny. But she followed after him. After walking for a while she began to regain her cool. "I'm the only waterbender in my tribe and-

OoOoOo

Jamyang followed the small tracks, which appeared to glow only as they were touched by the lantern light. He frowned as the tracks divereged. "_But what-?" _Jamayang's voice sounded like more like dry gravel than its usual melody_."I see. But if he's here…. This makes things much more interesting. I suppose it doesn't really matter which set I follow, they will likely converge_."

OoOoOo

"-and I'm so angry and I can't find Sokka and I don't know what to do." Katara kicked the air, swirling the mist in front of her."I feel so stupid. I can't believe I trusted her."

"I don't think you were stupid."

Katara looked up. "Really?"

"You wanted to learn waterbending and she offered you a chance. She offered you hope."

Katara's shoulders slumped. "Gee, thanks."

The Blue Spirit held up his hands. "I didn't mean it like that. I… I don't think hope is ever stupid, and you didn't have any reason to believe she was lying to you."

Katara turned away. "Doesn't matter now. I'm never going to learn waterbending."

"Never? Sounds to me like you're already learning it." The Blue Spirit answered as he navigated around a thin patch of fog. "I mean, you can already heal, and I don't know this 'Zhao' fellow but it doesn't sound like he's a novice.

"But all I had there was power. If I hadn't been by the river I would have lost. Azula can run rings around him, and that airbender got the better of her. Compared to them I'm nothing. The only time I fought another waterbender I lost."

"Hama is probably the best waterbender in the Southern Pole, there is no shame in losing to her. Oh and do be careful, the fog is getting especially thin." he replied, leaping from one patch to another.

"Yes, but-" Katara stopped talking as she leapt. "How am I ever going to get any better? It's isn't safe in the South Pole, and the Northern Tribe won't train me in anything but healing."

"You're thinking too much like a waterbender. Don't adapt to the situation, make the situation adapt to you." His long sleeves motioned in her direction, giving the impression he was pointing at her.

"Adapt to me? What do you mean?" Katara asked as she balanced along a narrow stretch of fog.

"I mean… The Northern Water Tribe wasn't always this way. Forcing women to only heal, I mean. Around four-hundred years ago, at the end of Kuruk's life and beginning of Kyoshi's, they changed. The Northerntribes were in a heavy period of conflict that would eventually lead to their unification. During that conflict they ran into a problem."

"What?"

"Not enough healers. You have to understand, having a healer is an amazing advantage in battle. Without one even the most minor of injuries can take someone out for months, if not permanently. When you have healers not only do you not lose as many troops, but the troops you have will be far more experienced. The second thing you have to understand is that most benders are not that impressive. They can bend fine if given time and an unpressured environment, but for practical battle purposes most are lucky to master a simple water-whip, even as an adult. Mastering both healing and combat bending is impossible for all but the best."

He stopped, taking a running leap to get to the next fog patch. "When the war started no bender wanted to learn healing. It left you unprotected, and besides, it wasn't nearly as cool looking. One tribe, the Aningan, instituted a rule that women had to be healers. This gave them guaranteed supply of healers, and they soon began to take over. Other tribes followed suit, but by that time the Aningan already established themselves as the dominate tribe."

"So what? I'm supposed to change it back? You said yourself it was better-"

"I said it had tactical advantages. Not that it was better. Stronger, maybe, but unfair to half the population. And it has one obvious flaw."

Katara cocked her head. "What?"

"You, and Hama," he said, turning around and spreading his arms wide. "You are brilliant. Even without training you can overcome trained benders. You learned healing without even knowing it was possible. You have the control, the power and the will to become the best waterbender's in the world. But the Northern Water Tribe's foolishness will never allow that potential to flourish. You may be from their sister tribe, but how many of their own could be that much greater if only they were allowed to try? So show them, and change them. Do you think that the princess would have taken no for an answer if she had been denied firebending?"

Katara shook her head. "No, she probably would have made them into smoked seal jerky. But I don't want to be like her."

"You don't have to. Don't lie to them, just prove yourself, and be prepared to stand your ground like an earthbender. And if they don't-" The Blue Spirit stopped in mid-sentence, causing Katara to crash into him.

"Ow! Why are we-?"

He held up his hand in a "stop" motion. "I'm trying to look for a way-" Katara tuned him out as she looked upwards. All of a sudden she understood why he wore the robes and mask. She understood why the robe covered him completely. She understood why he had shown the _palms_ of his hands to prove he was human. Katara wasn't focused on his words. Instead she was focused on the back of his arm, where the sleeve had fallen down, revealing a blue arrow tattoo that streaked downwards it until disappearing back into the robes.

"_You! You're an airbender!"_ she tried to scream, but found herself nearly breathless at the revelation.

He turned around, "What?" he asked, before realizing his mistake. "I'm sorry, please, wait!" he yelled but Katara had already taken off running. "No! STOP!" He shouted as Katara found herself falling through a lighter patch of fog. She felt a moment of pain, and everything went black.

OoOoOo

Katara hurt. There was no other way to describe it. Every single part of her hurt, though if she had to pick, she might vaguely say that the front side hurt more. But everything hurt. She just lay there, in too much pain to even move. Finally after what seemed like hours, she pulled herself up. First she put her right foot down, then she-

Pain coursed through her left foot, and Katara fell. Pulling her leg closer she began to gently remove seal-skin shoes. Her foot was bruised horribly. Cautiously she began to gently prod it. It hurt with every touch, but she didn't feel any broken bones, which was good. She tried to put her hands alongside it and begin healing, but, whether it was from the lack of water or because healing was just as ineffective as her normal bending, nothing happened.

Katara looked around. She was in a patch of clear area in the endless sea of fog, giving her about ten feet of visibility on each side. Katara pounded the ground. How could she have been so stupid? Twice she let herself be tricked, be taken in like some backwards yokel.

She was an idiot. Both times she let herself be led by the same stupid promise. Waterbending. She'd let herself be taken from home, yelled at Gran-Gran, and gone halfway around the world with someone she knew _nothing_ about on some stupid promise. Then she'd let herself be half convinced she could changed an entire tribe, just because she was _special_.

Tears began streaming down her face. It was too much. Twice she'd had her dream destroyed. Twice she'd had her hope smash. She was such an idiot, a stupid, naïve, foolish idiot.

OoOoOo

It wasn't until the howls came that Katara became aware of herself again. She looked up; the fog was still all around her. It might have drawn in closer, but it might have been her imagination. A second howl joined the first, coming from another angle. Finally a third howl sounded. Then they descended into mixed yips and barks. Katara huddled in on herself, turning each way as the sounds seemed to come from every direction. Encircling her, getting closer.

Katara started breathing heavily. She tried to calm herself down, but she'd never been so helpless. Surrounded by unknown enemies, unable to see, completely lost. It was as bad as the raids on her village. No, it was worse. At least then she could run.

The barking continued, getting louder, yet nothing ever quite coming into view. It built to a climax. Katara felt as if they should have entered the clearing , but instead the barking only grew louder. She thought she could make out thin shapes in the fog, coming right towards her.

_Crack!_ The sound echoed throughout the fog. Wood, or perhaps bone, hitting flesh, hard. It was followed by an earsplitting howl of pain. The other barks changed, becoming frantic, almost panicked as they moved towards the sound of the first howl. For what seemed like an eternity nothing changed, only the continuous barking filled the air. Finally there was a second crack, a second howl. Now there was only one source of barking, and not too long afterwards, not even that.

The silence was eerie, disconcerting. Finally Katara made out a single sound: footsteps, light, and barely above a whisper, but in the absence of sight or any other sound to distract her they might as well have been as loud as the the barking. They were slow, but deliberate, walking near her. Katara turned towards the direction they were coming from, looking into the fog. She again tried to get up, but fell down as the pain in her foot was to much.

The footsteps stopped. Katara covered her mouth, praying he hadn't heard. Her hopes were dashed a moment later as the footsteps renewed, this time running. Katara pulled herself up with her arms, and began to push herself backwards across the ground, hoping to get into the fog before he came out. But again she was to be disappointed, she had barely made it halfway when the Blue Spirit stepped into the clearing.

He held up his hand. "Please, stop."

Katara didn't listen, trying to back up further. The Blue Spirit began running, circling around Katara and cutting off her escape route, when she was only a few feet away. He crouched down so that they were at eye level and leaned forward. "I'm not your enemy, please, let me explain." He held out his hand.

Katara responded by delivering a punch straight to his mask. She heard a satisfying crack from behind the mask, and Blue Spirit fell back onto his butt. Unfortunately he was now out of arm range, so Katara could only watch helplessly as he stood up again, then turned and walked into the fog. "I 'uppose hat' husn't-" a second crack came from the fog "-entirely uncalled for," he finished.

"What do you want with me?" Katara shouted. "I don't even know where Azula is, just leave me alone."

A sigh came from the fog. "All I want is to help you. I'm not after the princess."

Katara gave a laugh. "I'm an idiot, but I'm not that stupid. You're an Air Nomad."

Silence reigned for a few moments, with only the sound of pacing footsteps. Finally, he spoke. "Tell me, if you saw an earthbender, would you automatically assume they were there to help you?" He paused, but, realizing Katara wasn't going to give an answer, he continued speaking. "Now, I know you've fought firebenders, that Zhao fellow, and; while you may not like this 'Azula', she is clearly an enemy of the Air Nomads. You fought Hama, but you yourself are a waterbender. If Earth, Fire and water are free to chose sides, why should Air be any different?"

Katara folded her arms, watching him suspiciously as he reentered the clearing, standing a respectful distance from her this time. "It..." he stopped, struggling to find the appropriate words. "It has been a long time since I considered myself to be a member of the Air Nomads, at least, politically. By parenthood and culture I would be lying if I said I wasn't." He reached for the tip of his spear, untying the crude stone end, and letting if fall to the ground. As he twilled it around himself, Katara realized that it was a glider-staff.

"So what, why should I trust you?" She held up her arms in a decent approximation of the top half of waterbending stance, it wouldn't help, but it made her feel safer.

His voice turned deadly serious. "If I had wanted to, I could have captured you many times over. I helped you in Senlin forest. I could have simply left you for Hei-Bai, or, if I wanted him stopped, I could have simply knocked you out afterwards." He punctuated the statement by gently tapping his staff against his hand. "Or now. You can't walk, and you don't know the territory. I didn't have to help you up before."

"You did if you want me alive." Katara countered.

He gave a laugh, harsh, and not nearly as pleasant as before. "Please, there are no wild spirits in this area. It is as dangerous for them as it is for humans. They were obviously being ordered by someone. Besides those were those were temple-dogs, though I've never seen then so odd looking, or out of the temple before…."

"Fine." Katara grunted. "What do you want?"

"As I said before, I _want_ to help. But for right now I'll settle for talking." He sat down, again facing her at eye level. Holding out his palm and bowing his head in apology, he continued. "You don't trust me. That's fine, I deceived you and you know Air Nomads only as enemies. But_ I_ am not your enemy. You told me the story of how you got here, so let me tell you the story of how I got here."

Katara looked down at her foot. "Not like I have a choice."

The Blue Spirit seemed accept that for an answer. "As I said before, culturally, I still consider myself an Air Nomad. And that seems to be a good place to begin. It is often said that the Air Nomads have always been peaceful monks. This is untrue. The original Air Nomads were composed of several bands of Nomads within the Earth Kingdom, when the First Earth King arose they were driven out of many areas and turned to banditry and raids in order to survive, attacking weakly guarded cities and towns within the Earth Kingdom. Finally the Thirteenth Earth King, Bhudev drove them into the mountains. It was there that Avatar Kushala was born, and it was her vision that lead them to become the monks they are now known as." He paused. "Tell me, what do you know of the war between the Fire Nation and the Air Nomads?"

Katara glowered at him, but stayed silent. He looked back, his mask concealing any expression. Katara tried to stare him down, but the mask made it impossible. Finally, Katara gave up. "The Fire Nation and Air Nomads were in conflict over the Earth Kingdom territory. So when the Comet came the Fire Nation launched a surprise attack upon the Temple's themselves. With the power of the Avatar at their side the Air Nomads stopped the attack. They then attacked back, taking over the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdoms in the hundred year war and establishing the empire."

He gave another laugh. This one was at least happier, but Katara didn't like that he seemed to find her description so funny. "You got two things right. The Fire Nation did launch an attack when the comet came, and the attack was repelled with the help of the Avatar." He took a deep breath and continued. "Regardless of ancient history, by the time of the attack, the Air Nomads were pacifists. Even the memory of war survived only in a few Air Bending moves, mainly regarded as novelties. It was almost arrogant. The Air Nomads saw themselves as above the world. Sure, the Earth Kingdom's might fight each other, or the Fire Nation might be getting aggressive, but that was no reason for them to be involved. The sum total of their action against the Fire Nation's aggression consisted of 'train the Avatar early'. Don't do anything to help, just send a twelve year old out instead." His hand clenched into a fist.

"Then the Fire Nation attacked. And for what! For merely harboring the Avatar!" He stopped, taking a moment to calm down. "After the attack… After the attack the Air Nomads were devastated, both physically and culturally. The idea that they were not part of the world was forever destroyed. They had done _nothing _to the Fire Nation. They controlled no territory save for a few mountains no one else could use. They harbored no armies. Their only crime was that they _might_, might, one day become a threat. Two temples were burned to the ground. And the devastation of the Western Air Temple left no illusions about their intent. Children, elders, they burned them all. They were going to destroy us, because of one. Single. Child."

"After the attack… there was no question about the Avatar. Aang was sent off not a day later to the Southern Pole to learn waterbending. Meanwhile, others were sent out to find an earthbender, and discreet missions were sent to the Fire Nation to find a firebender who was willing to oppose Sozin. But that wasn't all. No longer could the Air Nomads afford to bury their heads in the clouds. It wasn't war, not at first. They didn't immediately go an attack the Fire Nation. A few went to find the survivors of the Western Temple, but that was it. Instead monks were sent to talk to the various towns and cities in the Earth Kingdoms. Part of the reason the Fire Nation had been so successful was the divided nature of the Earth Kingdoms. Divide and conquer. Some of the inner kingdoms were even discreetly supporting the Fire Nation, as they were attacking their rivals. Before the fools couldn't realize that the Fire Nation wasn't ever going to stop, but now we stood as living proof of their danger, and power."

"That was the start of the 'Air Empire'. Not conquest, but an alliance. There weren't even plans to invade the Earth Kingdom territories held by the Fire Nation. Only to stop any further advances. It worked, not that it was that hard, the loss during the comet had hit the Fire Nation hard. Half the fleet and their best firebenders were at the bottom of the sea, and morale had suffered. The Fire Nation pulled back to guard the colonies it had. Four years later, Aang was ready, he had trained all the elements, and he went into the heart of the nation to order the Fire Lord to pull out. In his pride and arrogance, Sozin refused, and they dueled to the death. Not that there was ever any doubt as to the outcome, the maniac never stood a chance. With Sozin gone it was hoped that the Fire Nation would see reason. But instead his son, Azulon, was crowned, and he was filled with as much spite and pride as his father. It was then that-" He stopped, listening for something. Following his lead, Katara made out a few whines and growls in the distance.

He stood up. "It appears that the dogs are getting back up. We should move."

"Oh yes, I'll just skip on over." Katara motioned with her hands.

He cocked his head. "You were a lot less sarcastic the first time I meant you. I liked you better then. Anyways, I can carry you."

"I'm not going to let you carry me."

He shrugged. "I won't force you. But I wouldn't want to stay down here if I were you." He turned and began walking away."

Katara turned her nose upwards, waiting until he had almost disappeared from view. "Fine! But I still don't trust you."

He turned back towards her. "Of course." He crouched in front of Katara."Climb onto my back." Katara pushed herself forward and leaned onto his shoulders. He then grabbed her legs and rose into the air. Without any hesitation he walked into the fog, slowing only slightly.

"How are you doing that?" Katara asked.

"An acute sense of balance and spatial awareness, developed from years of bending practice." He stopped. "Hold on tight, I'm going to need to use my arms for climbing." Katara wrapped her good leg around his stomach area, and then wrapped both her arms around him. She felt a jerk as he pulled himself up; climbing so fast Katara wondered if he was still able to airbend. Then, as abruptly as they started, he stopped. "AHHACK. Not the neck! Nottheneck!"

Katara looked around in confusion for a second before realizing what she had done. "Sorry, I'm really sorry." She said, moving her arms down to his chest.

They waited on one of the larger branches, while the Blue Spirit regained his breath. "That's… fine.. just… please don't…. do it again." Taking a final deep breath, he made his way into the clouds. "You know, I suppose that was a convenient a time as any to be interrupted. As we do need to change topics for a moment. Tell me, what do you know of the Avatar?"

Katara started thinking. She really didn't want to be laughed at again, but she was interested now. "The Avatar is a great and powerful spirit. It takes human form and is born into each Nation in turn, from which they lead that Nation to glory. By cycling through all four Nations in turn they maintain the balance."

Another laugh. "That's a rather self-serving belief system, isn't it?"

"What?" Katara raised her arms to pound him, but found herself tumbling backwards. She quickly grabbed back on.

"I'm sorry if I offended you but… Let me put it this way: If you believe that, then Earth Kingdom didn't really throw off the shackles of an aging empire and create a diverse set of kingdoms that allowed different ideologies and thought. It was all Kyoshi. The Fire Nation didn't really manage to have technological advances which not only allowed them to not only challenge, but actively surpass the Water Tribe's mastery of the sea, they just had Roku. The Air Nomads didn't really manage to take on the largest unified nation a mere thirty-nine years after losing nearly half their population, they just had Aang. And finally the Water Tribe's aren't really stagnating and becoming increasingly irrelevant to the world, they simply have not had their Avatar in the longest time. They don't really need to address such problems as the lack of new innovations or outdate social systems. Once the new Avatar comes they'll be back on top of the world. Isn't that nice?" He finished in a sickeningly sweet voice.

Katara turned to the side, frowning. "Only if the Avatar's born into our tribe, othewise we'll simply be crushed." she muttered back.

"What's that? Ah yes. But, clearly the Avatar will be born into your tribe. Because your tribe is in the right, and is the tribe that can lead the other tribes to glory. So naturally Avatar _will _be born into your tribe. It's destiny." He finished with a few small chuckles.

Katara didn't answer for awhile. Much as she hated to admit it, his points were hitting uncomfortably close to home. Sure, the stories never went out and said it, but that was always the undercurrent. The idea that had survived two Avatars of other Nations, and if they could only make it through Aang there was a light at the end of the tunnel. It was a long time before she spoke again. "But it's _true_. Without Aang you never would have managed to defeat the Fire Nation."

He sighed. "Before I address that, let me start with the first misconception. That the Avatar is simply some spirit, wearing a human form. When I was still with the Air Nomads, I knew Aang. Maybe… maybe not as well as I should have. At the time I thought he was doing the right things but now…." He lapsed into silence, shaking his head. "But that is unimportant. Regardless of Aang's character, he was a man. He loved, cared, got angry… and made mistakes. The Avatars may in some way be spirit, but they are also as fully human as you or I." He paused for a moment, shaking

"Are you-"

"I'm fine." He shook his head. "I'm fine. As I said, never succumb to the illusion that the Avatar is anything more or less that fully human, even if they are also spirit. Which brings us to the next problem, the idea that Aang lead the Air Nomads to attack the Fire Nation. It's almost laughable, the idea that the Fire Nation could have held out for a hundred years against a determined onslaught. Do you know that when Avatar Kuruk was alive, he was said to be the most powerful Avatar ever? And when Kyoshi was alive, she was? And the same for Roku, and Aang? What do you think that means?"

Katara stopped, thinking. She was tired of being laughed at. Cautiously, she answered. "Well, none of them were alive at the same time, and since it takes a while to become fully grown, there wouldn't be many people who could compare them both at their prime. Plus the people they helped would want to claim they were the most powerful in order to make them look more dangerous and keep anyone from challenging them."

Before the Blue Spirit, Katara would have never realized how many different ways someone could laugh. She could hear the approval this time. "Absolutely right." She smiled. "But just because their reasoning was flawed, doesn't change the fact that they were right." Katara frowned in confusion. "The Avatar is capable of bending all four elements, but that is not what makes them so powerful. If it were only that, they could be matched by any four masters. No, the Avatar is in possession of one ultimate trump card: the Avatar State. In this state their power dwarfs any other. It is in this state that the feats that make up the legends of their power are done. That Avatar State is accomplished by drawing on all the power of the previous Avatars. As such with each new Avatar it gets a little more powerful. And since the Avatar state is what people mean when they talk about the Avatar's power it is true that Kuruk was the most powerful Avatar ever, and Kyoshi more powerful than him, and Roku more powerful than her, and Aang more powerful still, and the Avatar after him. She will be the most powerful Avatar ever as well.

"She?" Katara cocked her head.

He shrugged. "Or he, but it's very unusual to get three males in a row. Which is somewhat odd as three females isn't unheard of. Rare, but not unheard of. You get a lot of two males in a row so the overall gender balance is roughly equal. Not sure why, but I think three males in a row has only happened once or twice in the entire history of the world. But regardless, Aang was powerful enough to destroy the Fire Nation."

"I know. He just did it."

"No, you don't get it." He paused, switching gears. "Do you know why Kyoshi island is called Kyoshi island?"

"Kyoshi was born there?" Katara hazarded.

He shook his head. "The lack of Aang temple, Roku island or Kuruk snowdrift argues against that. Kyoshi was born there, but the real reason that is was named after he was that she made it."

"What?"

"Amazing, but true. Kyoshi island was originally a part of the mainland. When the Warlord Chin the Conqueror came to take it over, Avatar Kyoshi moved it away from the mainland to its current location. Sinking a piece of land isn't that much harder than moving it, just send it down instead of side to side. All Aang would have had to do was remove a Kyoshi island sized chunk of the Fire Nation once a day, and they wouldn't have even lasted a year. Do you understand? Aang wasn't merely capable of defeating their armies, or even a retaliatory genocide. He could have _wiped the entire Nation off the map_."

Katara's eyes widened at the thought. "But wouldn't the Fire Nation Avatar's have stopped him? I mean he had to draw on their power."

"No. The spirits of previous Avatar can influence the Avatar State, but ultimately the current Avatar is in control. When they are young and untrained the state seems random, but they always have the ability to refuse it, and once they are older they choose when to enter entirely on their own, the previous Avatars could no more refuse than the elements could refuse to be bent. So as I said, if all Aang wanted to do was eliminate the armies, he could have. Tidal waves, firestorms, hurricanes, earthquakes. He could have killed them all. It would have been _easy._" Katara shivered at the emphasis he put on the last word.

"But… he didn't…. Why?"

The Blue Spirit stopped. "I… I'm not exactly sure. When I was back in the Air Temple I always believed it was some innate goodness. That he was unwilling to kill them because it would be wrong. That he recognized his status as a keeper of balance and was unwilling to help one nation destroy another. But now… now I question everything I ever believed. Maybe it was just cowardice. It is a terrible thing, to take another human life. It eats you up inside. I barely remember my first battle, confusion, fire, screaming, I don't even know how many I killed. But my second… that was different, that time I knew what was happening, and I willingly made the decision to kill. I felt sick for weeks afterwards. Aang… maybe he simply didn't want to have to deal with the burden of killing so many, and so he forced the problem on others."

"So you're saying Aang was neutral?" Katara asked, incredulous.

"No." He started walking again. "He may not have led the invasion, but he was hardly neutral. After Sozin refused to let go of the colonies, an alliance of the Earth Kingdoms and Air Nomads attacked back, driving the Fire Nation out of its colonies on the mainland and outer Earth Kingdom islands. It was thought that that would be the end. Then Azulon attacked back."

The Blue Spirit shook his head. "Of all the people in the history of the war, Azulon is the one I understand the least. I do not know what he was thinking. His father could not do it against an untrained Avatar, an unprepared Air Nomad nation and with the comet's power. So what in the world he was thinking? I will never know. He led the attack himself, and Aang his ship head on, sending it to the bottom of the sea and breaking the back of the invasion. So while Aang was never leading the invasion, he countered any attempt by the Fire Nation to attack back, and never put any equivalent check on the Air Nomads. Not really surprising, the original attack on the Air Nomads was because of him. The guilt… would have been terrible. To know you were the cause of your people's near destruction. I don't think Aang could ever bring himself to defy them after that, and it was in refusing to be able to judge his allies as harshly as his enemies that he failed in his duty as the Avatar. That's the hardest duty of being an Avatar, they are called to be keepers of balance, and must be as prepared to go against even their allies when they are wrong."

"After the second attempt at invasion, it was decided that the Fire Nation was too dangerous, and only an unconditional surrender was possible. So there I was, in this world. I should have seen the signs, but I didn't want to. I willingly blinded myself. I heard reports of corruption in certain diplomats, but I thought they were untrue. I heard that there was fighting in some kingdoms, but the Earth Kingdoms have always been riddled with rebellions -- more often than not made of cutthroats and bandits, and it wasn't like it was our fault, just factions fighting. I convinced myself that as soon as the dynasty that lead the Fire Nation was toppled, it would all be over, we weren't ever really going to conquer it. I heard younger Air Nomads talk as if we were the head or leader of the alliance, instead of merely its creators. I ignored the signs, until I could ignore them no longer."

Curiosity overcame Katara. "What about the Southern Water Tribe?"

"I had talked with Taskoda and believed he was the best Chieftain. Now I see how much of a self fulfilling prophecy that was. He was the one most willing to talk to us, to give concessions to us. To enter into our alliance, so of course we talked with him the most. And because we talked with him we only heard his side of the story. I supported our support of him. More the fool to me." He paused looking off into the distance, somewhere else entirely. "I was there, you know."

"There?"

"The duel between Avatar Aang and Fire Lord Iroh. When Aang killed Sozin, he had to travel into the heart of the Fire Nation, and was surrounded by enemies. When he killed Azulon, he was in the middle of a battle, both sides clashing all around them. But Iroh... Iroh traveled into the heart of our territory, and was forced to duel Aang with only a crowd of Nomads to watch. A good reflection of the shifting balance of power, I suppose. Sozin and Azulon, they were evil, conquering, but Iroh... I saw him, he looked… so old, and tired. He was only forty-nine, but the years had aged him terribly. He didn't want to kill us, or conquer the world. He just wanted us to leave his nation alone. He was just an old man. _Just a tired, old man__…_" He trailed of, looking down at the ground.

The awkward silence reigned for what seemed like an eternity before he spoke again. "After that. After that I… I couldn't stay where I was. And so I came here."

"Oh…" Katara couldn't think of anything else to say.

"You know, I meant was I said," he added, cheering up.

"Huh?" Katara looked up.

"Back when we were originally talking. About the Northern Tribe. It does need to be changed, and I really think you could be the one to do it."

"Thanks I- umph!" She gave a grunt as she felt a jolt from him taking a rather impressive leap from one cloud bank to another. "Hey! You're still carrying me!"

"You just noticed?" He asked, laughing once again.

Katara's face turned red. "Well, I, you're story distracted me and I- Just where are we going?"

"The northern edge of the mist, once we get there you should be able to walk out and be fairly near the port of Bei Mian where you can get a ride to the Northern Pole."

"Oh… but what about Sokka? I have to find him!" She shouted realizing she'd completely forgot about her brother.

"Don't worry, if he's in the Spirit World I promise to find him and send him to you. If not, Bei Mian is the largest port in the Northern Kingdoms. It's your best bet to find him," he said as he slowed down and began looking at the 'ground'. "Before we depart I have a few last pieces of advice." He grabbed one of the tree branches sticking out through the fog and shook it a bit before shaking his head one walking to another.

"Okay…"

"First, I think you should go with the princess again." He shook another branch.

"What?" Katara squawked Why would I want to go with someone I can't even trust?"

"Untrustworthy or not-" He gave a grunt as the branch snapped off. "She's a very good firebender, and you need to travel with someone powerful ."

"Why? I'm not the one they're after. Staying with her would only make me a bigger target."

"Like it or not." He crouched down again. "You are a target, and by now your face is plastered all over the world. Just because you left her doesn't mean they know that. For all they know you could be on a mission. Leaving her won't stop them chasing you." He stopped shaking the branch, and leaned as close to the fog as he could, inspecting the tree. "I'm not asking you to follow her blindly, just… give her another chance."

Katara frowned. "I'll think about it."

"That's all I ask. Secondly, please hold on, I'm going to begin climbing down." He thrust his pole into the fog, and then began stirring it around in order to create a small patch of lighter fog that he put his foot through. "I can't see the branches, so I'm going to have to be cautious. Thirdly, it's probably been a few days since you first entered, so don't be surprised if a lot of time as passed."

"A few days!" Katara frantically stammered. "But , it can't have been!"

They stopped descending for a moment as the Blue Spirit flayed around his leg searching for a foothold. "Aha, there we go! Now then, this part of the spirit world is always foggy, has no day or night, and you don't get hungry or tired, so how would you know how long it's been?"

"But I'm physically in it this time. I have a heartbeat and breath, why wouldn't I get hungry or tired?"

"Hold on a second, I can't find any branches." With that, Katara felt a rush of wet air as they leapt off the tree. Between the fall and the fog making it impossible to see the ground, Katara held on so tight she thought arms were going to end up permanently clamped to the robe. "You know," he said, lifting Katara up. "We're on the ground now." He hoisted her up and set her down ,then turned around and crouched down so they were once again face to mask. "Lesson one of the Sprit World, it's weird." For some reason, Katara found herself giggling.

He pulled out his staff. "Use this as a walking stick. I'll lead the dogs away. Just go as far in that direction-" Katara squinted to make out which way his arm was pointing. "As you can. The fog should lift and you'll be back in the physical world. Watch out as the staff will probably disappear. Once you get there it should be fairly easy to heal that ankle, I think it's only sprained. Keep heading north and you should find a road to Bei Mian. " He stopped, thinking. "Oh yes, one last thing. If you can't get a teacher in the Northern Water Tribe, meditate by the water pool at the top of the palace. You should be able to reach the spirit world there. I believe I know of a third tribe of waterbenders and I will talk to you there." He began walking off into the fog.

"Really?" Katara asked, unaware there was such a thing.

He had only gone a few steps, but already all Katara could make out was a greyer patch of fog. "I'm not sure, I'll have to check with some contact I have. Oh, and one last thing." His voice turned deadly serious once more. "When you meditate, you will wind up in a swamp. Do. Not. Move. A sprit name Koh lives near there, if you wander into his lair he _will_ steal your face. Do not go into his lair, do not give him the chance."

"Oh… Wait!" Katara waved at him, for all the good it did. "Is that why you wear the mask?" But he was already gone.

Slowly Katara got up, holding onto the staff, moving first her right leg, the staff and her left as she balanced on her right. The going was slow, and wasn't fun, but eventually the fog began to clear.

"AHHH" Katara fell face-forward as the staff disappeared. "Ow… Should have remembered the fog was still there even while I could bend." Katara pushed herself out. Stretching her arms out, she attempted to bending the fog. The gentle resistance came, and the fog moved to the call of her hands. Carefully she moved her arms in a gathering motion, drawing the fog towards her. Once she had a decent clump, she made a squeezing motion with her hands, turning it into water. Finally she placed the water around her left foot, and began healing it.

OoOoOoOo

**Epilogue**

Jamyang sighed disappointedly as the hounds came back empty handed once again. He stepped forward, speaking to the mist. "_I do not know if you can hear if you can please, I am not your enemy. I respected you work, and am grateful for what you did. I understand you might think I am, but while I do need to capture her, I do not wish to harm her_."

**Author's notes: **So yeah, history of the Air Nomads, from a Nomad. Hope the long bits of dialogue didn't bore you to death. This chapter and the previous one form the crux of the "why" question of my story. Explaining why the Air Nomad, Avatar, and Azula are so different. Hopefully you found it a satisfying explanation. I likely won't be going into any more detail for quite a while.

So while the Blue Spirit clearly deceived Katara, he didn't actually lie… much. In total he told one lie, feel free to try to figure out where they were. I will give on piece of advice. Being inaccurate is not the same as a lie. There is at least one place where he thinks he's telling the truth, but is wrong.

On a more real world note I probably won't be having another chapter for awhile. The computer I stored my files on is currently unavailable. Since I was partly through the next chapter and, frankly, I'm a lazy bastard who hates rewriting stuff, I'm probably not going to write until I get it back. Best case next chapter is in a month or so, worse case.. two months?

Finally I've heard some conflicting reports on my pre chapter "history notes" and I'd like your opinion. I'm throwing up a to see what people think.

Keep as it- Vote if you like em

Good idea, bad execution- Vote if you like the idea of historical documents, but don't like the writing style

Incorporate into main text- Vote if you want to incorporate the stuff more in the main text. Keep in mind that if I did this I'd have to sacrifice a lot of the content, and it would all have to come out somewhat biased, so there'd be no "objective" answer to a lot of questions.

Bad idea, don't want. –If you just don't like em.


	17. The Mechanist

Author's prologue: That was ridiculously, absolutely totally too long. I could offer a dozen excuses, but really even with the problems that should not have been this long. I wish I could say the next chapter will be very quick, but I'm heading abroad for about a month, so hopefully the next chapter will come sometime late January. After that it could be a while, but I'd like to get the final three over with in quick succession.

**Days of fire- A history of Sozin's comet**

While in hindsight it may seem absurd that the Eastern Temple did not make the connection between Avatar Aang's dreams of fiery doom, and the oncoming comet, you must understand the time period. The world of 1125 simply did not regard Sozin's Comet (known then as the firebender's light) as a threat. It only lasted one day, and the idea of a nation projecting massive power in a single day simply didn't exist. Before then most fighting on the day of the Comet was done within the Fire Nation itself. It was regarded as a curiosity for scholars, a headache for Avatars, and an opportunity for every squabbling faction within the Fire Nation. But with Sozin grandfather and father having modernized and centralized the Nation, the stage was set for his audacious attempt.

Ultimately, the Eastern Temple came to the conclusion that Aang was suffering due to homesickness. Again, not an unreasonable conclusion given that he began having his dreams right after relocating, and he was only twelve. The Eastern Temple's council felt trapped: Sending him to any of the other temples was not an option. Initially, they considered having Aang's friends from the Southern Temple visit, but the Southern council had made it clear that part of the purpose of Aang's movement was to make him more independent, and it was felt that any request they made would not be granted.

Eventually Senior monk Ojan proposed a alternate solution: Since Aang's distress was believed to be caused by his rapidly changed environment, it would be best to attempt to make it feel more like home. Though the Southern Temple was not an option, perhaps they could accommodate guests from the Northern Temple. While they would not personally be friends with Aang, at least it would give him other boys to play with until he felt more comfortable.

An amusing antecedent claims that this suggestion was rapidly accepted after Aang's distress caused him to "sleepbend" and destroy something of value. Though what it was (fine vase, his bed, the elder's hair, large section of the temple) and what bending used varies widely from story to story. The accuracy of the story notwithstanding, Ojan's proposition was accepted in very short order.

Ojan soon departed for the Northern Temple, arriving scant days before the arrival of Sozin's Comet . Any records of how the talks went were sadly lost in the turmoil following the event. The only thing known is that she continued to stay in the temple for the next three days. On the day of the comet she had elected to visit one of the far mountains. Again, the exact mountain she visited is lost to history, What is certain is that it afforded a keen view of the sea. The (contradictory) claims that she was visiting a mountain spring to take a bath away from "those perverted old men" or that she was enjoying the company of one of the elders must both be viewed with suspicion. Ojan was 70 years old at the time. Since she died in the attack, it was impossible for her to elaborate, and these stories seem to have come into circulation many years later.

Ojan's mountainside visit would have far-reaching consequences as the ocean view afforded her a brilliant look as the Fire Nation's Northern Fleet . As with much of the time, exactly why she choose to scout it further is unrecorded. Perhaps, she had already made the connection between Aang's distress and the ships, or perhaps she simply wished to investigate.

Admiral Lee, nervous about being spotted, ordered his men to open fire on the loan Air Nomad as soon as she was spotted. It would not be an understatement to say that the early order cost the entire operation its sucess. The invasion's air-tight timeline meant that the comet was still not close enough to draw power from, and Ojan was too far way to hit accurately with normal catapults. Admiral Lee's rash action allowed Ojan to escape with knowledge of the danger.

Looking at the Northern Air Temple's invasion as a whole it is really quite shocking that it was not a repeat of the Western Temple's Catastrophe. An extraordinary string of coincidences combined to turn the tide of fate. Had Ojan not decided to come to the temple, had she not chosen to be at that exact spot on that exact day, had Lee not panicked and ordered her attacked too early and had the other monks not chosen to listen to her then things would have been very different. It is simply extraordinary that anyone survived at all.

**Book 1: Water**

**Chapter 16**

**The Mechanist**

There are several unpleasant ways to be woken up. Having a bender trying to kill you, blood pooling around you while severed heads lie right in front of you, being splashed by ice cold water by your sister, being hit with sparks from a psychotic princess, and so on. The worst however, as Sokka would later claim in his memoirs, was being licked by a Killer Whale-Wolf. Not only did it have the normal unpleasantness of being licked awake, but the shear size of the tongue meant that his entire body got licked, not merely one unlucky part of his face. Finally, it gave him the distinct sensation that he was about to be eaten.

As such it was quite understandable that Sokka's initial reaction was to jump back and scream like a little girl. Or rather, not like a little girl, but like a man, a manly man screaming with primal fury. After Sokka had properly established his personal space, insured an ample supply of oxygen and double checked his heart for proper blood flow , he proceed to calmly and rationally inform Sukara of his wish to not have said incident repeated.

"Don't! Do! That!" He yelled.

Sukara whined in response.

After a few more moments of insuring oxygen and heartbeat inspection he looked around. He was near the banks of a river. Other than that there was nothing around, save a few scattered trees, but it was mostly a rocky, barren wasteland near the river was a smooth trail of mud where Sukara had dragged him ashore. "So… you seen, er, smelled either of the others?" he asked and Sukara shook his head. "I thought you were supposed to be a great tracker! Fine, then I guess it is up to the superior human brain to deduce the most logical course of action."

Sukara rolled over, enjoying the sunlight. "Oh real show of confidence there pal. Now let me think. We were on the river, then the waterfall came, Katara did something… I can't remember what. Since your alive that probably means the others are. I mean no offense. It's just that you're heavier- not that I think you're fat. I'm sure it's all muscle- and where was I? Right, so they either washed up before us, or floated on downstream. No real way to tell which. As such we will have to really on the ancient water tribe method of divination." Sokka nodded sagely, then reached into his robes and pulled out a coin. He hadn't let Azula keep all of them. He flipped it into the air. "Tails…. I think." Sokka turned the coin around. "Actually, how do you tell with these? I mean both sides are the same design… Wait! This one has a scratch, which looks kind of like a tail, so that's tails and this is heads. Heads it is. Forward we go."

Sukara got up lazily and followed Sokka. As they walked along the river Sokka had time to think. He allowed himself a little smile: He had been right about Azula. She had just been using them, Katara couldn't have learned waterbending in the north even if she had gotten there. Sokka was one hundred percent, totally and completely right. Take that world, suspicion and caution win again. Now, all he had to do was get Katara and they could go home. He stopped as they came to the edge of the lake. "Look, you can swim better than I can. So how about you head to the center of the lake and see if maybe they're floating there? I'll walk around the edges."

Sukara stood still.

"Did you hear what I said? Go swim to the center."

Sukara sat on the ground doing a good impression of cocking it's head for something with no visible neck**.**

"Right, I forgot you're just a stupid animal-"

"GRRRRRR."

"Sure, now he understands me…. Look. YOU. GO. THERE." Sokka pointed to the center of the lake.

Sukara blinked.

Sokka face palmed as he tried to think of a way to get communicate. He leaned against Sukara as he thought out loud. "Maybe a stick… but I'd need one the size of a tree to attract his interest. If I had some meat that would work…. I've got it, I'll build a twenty foot bow and arrow and launch in into the lake like a stick! …. Yeah that's not gonna work- AHHH!" Sukara shot forward without warning, leaving Sokka without any support and causing him to fall down. "What was that all about-?" Sokka looked out to the lake, where several fish were now trying to jump out of the water. "… I guess that solves that."

As he walked along the edge of the lake Sokka noticed several channels diverging from it. Above each channel were crude earthen "bridges" that allowed him to cross over, which implied earthbenders, and further implied civilization. His suspicions were confirmed when he was able to make out a dam at the other end of the lake. The entire lake was a construction project! Sokka quickly rushed to the edge of the dam, looking down to see if he could find anyone.

On the other side of the dam were several openings where jets of water poured out so fast Sokka half-wondered if waterbenders were inside. In front of each jet was a wheel that looked to be designed out of metal instead of the usual wood.

"Whoa." Sokka had seen a few waterwheels during his trip through the Earth Kingdoms, but this… This bore about as much resemblance to them as Zhao's ship did to the canoe he and Katara had gone fishing in.

Each of the wheels was surrounded by various small structures, which Sokka suspected housed the shafts connecting to the village.

And what a village! It didn't look anything like other villages Sokka had seen. It was neither crudely earthbent houses nor wood, but the stronger stone indicative of a city. The only problem was it clearly wasn't a city, being far too small. Heck Sokka was reluctant to call it a town, more like a collection of buildings. Whatever this was, it was worth investigating. "SUKARA!" Sokka called out before turning back around and looking for a way down. Fortunately, whoever had designed the dam had had the foresight to include stairs. He raced down them as fast as he could. Sokka was about halfway down when Sukara's distinctive cry forced him to stop. The Whale-wolf was at the top of the stairs, looking down.

"What's the matter? Just come down." Sokka motioned for Sukara to follow him.

Sukara just stood at the top of the stairs; evidently he was not willing to listen to Sokka.

Sokka paused for a moment, and realized that the stairs were far too small for a Killer Whale Wolf. "Look, there has to be some way around, just meet me at the bottom. Okay?" Sokka said, and then continued on down, hoping the creature actually understood.

OoOoOo

The town was bigger up close, about as big as his home village, but still not nearly big enough to be called a city. The streets were oddly empty, lacking the stalls and bustle that seemed to define most of the Earth Kingdom's existence. The noise, however, was on full blast. Perhaps even louder than normal cities. Though instead of voices, it was gears, clanging and buzzing. It somewhat reminded him of the ship. It wasn't until he was practically inside the town that he saw someone to talk to. "Hey could I-" Sokka stopped as the man continued stair at the clouds. "Hello? Are you listening to me? Hey! Over here! I said HEY! HEY!!!!" Sokka shouted at the top of his lungs.

The heavily muscled man finally turned towards him and removed what looked like a pair of earmuffs. "Sorry about that," he yelled over the noise.

"No problem. Do you think you could help me?"

The man nodded, as if he had he had expected this question. "First time here? The mechanist is in the big building at the center! You'll want to pull the string, he might not hear you if you knock!"

"Um… thank you." Sokka began walking towards the center, trying to hide his confusion.

"Hold on a moment. You look different. Just where are you from?"

"I-" Sokka desperately founded about. He didn't really know where he was. Saying the wrong area could be… unwise. Best to go with someplace neutral, which meant that honesty was actually the best policy. "I'm Water Tribe."

"Water Tribe." The man sounded impressed. "So that's why you look so odd. Wow, we've never gotten someone as far away as Water Tribe before. Bet the mechanist is gonna love this. Water Tribe, to come all the way from the North Pole…. Guess his inventions really are getting a reputation…."

Sokka decided not to correct him on that and headed into the city/town…. place, proper. As he went further in the noise level increased, in both diversity and volume, until it dwarfed anything he had heard in Azula's ship. As he walked he noticed what sounds he heard, and what ones he didn't. The grinding of gears was the same, but there was far more pounding, the only pounding on the ship had been when Houjin decided to employ the "ancient engineer's secret technique" on a uncooperative mechanism, by contrast here it was constant To be fair, given Houjin's temperament, it was fairly constant on the ship as well. There were also some sounds Sokka couldn't hope to identify, such as a continuous buzzing that seemed to pick up and fall off arbitrarily.

Sokka barely had time to take this all in before he arrived at the base of the tower. Up close he could see that it widened out at the bottom to the size of either a very small mansion or very large house. He walked up to the door and pulled on a heavy piece of rope which dangled at the side . While he waited for someone to answer he examined the building. Like all buildings in the town it was made of solid stone, however, unlike the others it had no windows. Or rather there were no windows right now, various patches of earth along the walls implied that there had been windows at one point. Even more unusual was that the top of the tower had some sort of circle on each side, and within each of the circles (or at least the one that Sokka could currently see) were two metal bars that seemed to point to numbers on the circle.

"Hey. Are you just going to stare at the clock all day?" someone yelled at him.

Sokka looked back down. Then, seeing as there was no one at eye-level he was forced to look down again. The boy looked about his age. His clothes were typically earth kingdom, though a pair of the same type of ear-muffs the other man had worn were hung around his neck. By far the most distinguishing feature was the chair he sat in, which had two wheels, one each side.

"Well?" the boy asked, wheeling himself back to allow Sokka through the door. After Sokka had walked in the boy pulled a lever on the wall, and the door shut behind them. Once it closed, the noise died down to little more than a few muffled bangs, and the boy was able to speak without yelling. "That's better, sorry about the noise, but the Wei's old mass-harvester broke down and today was the day we agreed to let them make a new one. Name's Teo. I'm the mechanist's son, and you are?"

"Sokka." Sokka looked around, the place was covered with drawings, bits of wood and contraptions Sokka could only guess at, all organized haphazardly. There didn't seem to be much metal. Even more surprising was that Sokka could make any of this out despite the lack of openings or any visible candles, the place was well lit.

"Lot to take in, isn't it?" Teo turned his chair around, using his arms to manipulate the wheels. "Follow me, and I'll show you right to my father." Sokka followed him, trying to take in as much as he could. "So, Sokka, that doesn't sound like a name from around here… Where are you from?"

Sokka frowned, was he projecting some sort of "outsider aura" today? He'd made it through half the Earth Kingdom without drawing this much attention to himself. Why now? Well, he'd already told the first guy, so it wasn't like he could change his story now. "I'm Water Tribe."

"Water Tribe? Wow, dad's going to be real happy to meet you, he always loves new challenges. Hey Dad! There's someone you should meet, from the Water Tribe!" Teo cried out, rapping his hand on a wooden door.

"Wha? Oh! Hello there. I am the mechanist." Given Sokka's experience on the ship the mechanist wasn't exactly what he had expected. He looked older, and with far more facial hair, his head gave the impression that the hair from the top had simply decided to pack up and more to the front of his face. "So, you can all the way from the North Pole? What's your name?"

Sokka found his hand being shaken. "I'm Sokka and-"

"You want my help." The mechanist was positively beaming. "Well, I must say I can't wait." He held up a hand. "Don't tell me, let me guess. It's got to be something big, to come so far south and into the mountains. I haven't heard of any disasters so that's no help. Maybe some sort of ice breaking plow… but I can't imagine you get many crops up there. Maybe an auto-saw… do you have trees up there? You must, otherwise how would you make ships? Or maybe some sort of transportation… but I've heard about the canals you have, I would love to see those. Oh I know, fishing! Some sort of super-ship, that can fish faster than a normal man. I bet you could use a net, and then leverage to pull it up. But how would you sort the fish… maybe just do that at home. Or I know! You could have a grating to sort them by size. And you have waterbenders up there; with those you might not even need a net. But you would have to drain the water…hmmmm yes, that would be so complex-"

"Errr. Mr. Mechanist? Sir? I hate to break it to you, but I was actually just looking for directions."

The mechanist blinked. "I'm sorry?"

"Well I am too, but I'm not really looking for any ships or anything. I'm sort of lost and this was the first town I could find."

"Oh…. I see. Well I suppose I can help with that too. This is…." The mechanist turned to his son. "Do we actually have a name for this place?"

Teo laughed. "Well you wanted to name it 'Place where I make all of my inventions using hydro-power', but I still want "Mechisburg".

"Maybe I could just get a map?" Sokka asked.

The Mechanist nodded. "That's not a bad idea, now let me see, I've got some city maps here… just where are you headed?"

"Actually I'm-, not so sure…"

"Oh, doing a bit of touring? Well I hear Omashu is wonderful this time of year. Though it's quite far south."

Sokka held up his hands. "No, no it's not that. It's just that… Well, I'm actually looking for my sister, Katara. We got separated and I'm trying to find her."

"How'd you get separated?" Teo asked, leaning forward.

"We fell over a waterfall."

"And you survived!?" Teo asked incredulously.

"My sister's a waterbender."

"Wow, bending a waterfall…. And I always thought of waterbenders as only being able to squirt water at you." Teo looked thoughtful. "Then again, this entire place is powered by water, so I guess it was pretty stupid of me, huh?"

"Well, my sister is a pretty powerful bender. But after we fell I sort of blacked out, and woke up along the river a-ways back. I was sort of hoping maybe you had seen her?"

"Sorry, no girls have turned up here."

Sokka sighed, "Well, thanks for your help. Could I maybe get a map before I go? I've got a lot of ground upstream to cover…."

"Actually, I just might be able to help you with that." The mechanist said.

"Look, I'd appreciate your help but I really don't want you to go out of your way…."

He laughed. "Oh it's no trouble. I know most of the farmers around here, all I have to do is ask them if they've had anyone turn up."

"Really? That's great!"

"It might take a week or so for everyone to be contacted. But I would dare say it a bit faster than going yourself. And you could stay here until then."

"That would be-" Sokka began without thinking, then he stopped. What if these people were with the Air Nomads? They seemed nice, but so had Aunt Wu, and even if she wasn't really working for the Air Nomads, she had still talked to them. Or Suki, just because someone had a real life didn't mean he should trust them. Best to be cautious, even if they didn't tell, with all the surrounding families being asked…. "Look, I really appreciate it, but I don't want to be a burden. I could just make my own camp and-"

The Mechanist waved his objections off with a cheery smile. "Nonsense. The only people here are me, Teo and Kinzdong. We have plenty extra room."

Sokka began to object. "I really-" There wasn't a really problem, was there? After all, the Air Nomads (and Zhao) were after Azula, not him or Katara. As long as he got Katara they could just go home, no problem. "You don't have anyone? What about the, ah Wiis? Weren't they staying?"

"It's Weis." The Mechanist corrected. "Don't worry about them, they're going to be heading back today. Actually, Teo? You want to give our guest the tour?"

Teo began to wheel his chair towards the door. "Sure, dad. Come-on Sokka, follow me."

"So, how long has your family lived here?"

"Just one generation. We, and most of the people in the surrounding area originally lived in a valley to the east, but a terrible flood ended up wiping it out when I was only a baby. It's how my legs got injured, and how my mother died. After the flood we didn't know where to go. A lot of people wanted to head down south to the plains and cities, like some of the Air Nomads suggested, but my dad stuck it out and made this area our home."

"So you dad isn't a big fan of the Air Nomads then?"

Teo stopped. "What? Oh no, no, they were great. After the flood some of the monks from the Northern Temple came down and helped us find survivors, even flew a few who had been stranded away. There would be a lot less of us without them. With our home destroyed they were able to help find a few places that would be able to take us in, but well… It's just we would have had to go to the cities, and most of the community were farmers, so they would have had to be basic laborers, and it would have broken the community up. Dad could have gone himself, with his talents he could have been great, but he didn't want to leave anyone behind."

"So you just found this area?"

"Sort of, when we found it most of the land was dry and deserted, even if the valleys themselves had good farm land, and the river was raging through. According to dad this area probably was farm land at one point, but the river must have shifted. The flood which destroyed our original home was probably linked to the event that shifted it back. Kind of Ironic that the flood that destroyed our original home created this one, right?" Teo stopped as he began pushing the lever to open the door.

Sokka double checked his math. "Wait, doesn't that mean the rivers shifted at least twice… shouldn't you be worried?"

"What? I can't hear you over the racket, you're going to have to speak louder now!" Teo was practically yelling to be heard over the din.

"Nevermind!" Sokka shouted back.

"Could you get the lever over here?" Teo pointed to one on the outside of tower, as Sokka pulled it the door began to close. Teo dramatically pointed to the top of the tower. "This is the clocktower."

"Clock? You mentioned that earlier." Sokka had to raise his voice to be heard over the constant pounding (or whatever.) "How is that a clock?"

"If you read the circles they tell time! See the big-"

"Wait! I want to figure it out!" Sokka stained upwards, trying to puzzle out the thing. If you turned it on its side it would sort of look like a sundial… "OH! The hand works like the shadow on a sundial, and the other hand is like a candle clock. Cool! So what are the mirrors for?"

"Sunlight." Teo shouted back, "On work day this we shut the windows so it's not to loud, but the upper area is high enough that noise doesn't get through as much, so we use mirrors up there to catch the sunlight and redirect it to help light our house!"

"Why not just use candles?" Sokka said as they headed towards one of the buildings from which a large buzzing sound was coming from.

Teo shrugged. "We did originally, but my dad had an idea and decided to go for it. We still use them on cloudy days," Teo continued on, "The ground here was originally dirt, but when we created the rest of the place dad thought it would be a good idea to make the streets stone so I could move along them easier. Hold on one second." Teo opened the door via another lever, unlike the main tower, it was simple wood, if a bit thick.

Inside was the source of the buzzing. A circular piece of metal was rapidly rotating, while two men ran various pieces of wood through it. Teo waved his hand. "Hey Bae!Hyo!" They ignored him, and he was forced to wait a few seconds for the men to finish the particular piece of wood before shouting at his full voice. "HEEEEY!!"

The two men looked up. Just like the man Sokka had seen earlier they were wearing the ear-muffs, but were also wearing goggles over their eyes. The man nearest to them moved towards them while the other pulled a lever which caused the blade to stop spinning. "Teo! What brings you and your friend down here?"

"Just showing him around. So, how are you doing?"

He hesitated. "Not as well as I'd hoped, we decided just to try and get as much as we could done, then pack the rest up and do it back home."

Teo cocked his head to the side. "Can you do that?"

"Jae was afraid we wouldn't finish in time and we really need to get back. It's already turning dark and we can't afford to stay another day. I talked with your father about it yesterday. We did the last few pieces that need to be sawed, and Kinzdong's finished making the blades. We already pounded the heavy parts of the joints together – what's can just be assembled back home, plus it's a might easier to carry."

"Cool. I'll just show Sokka around. Don't mind us."

"Actually, we were just finishing up in here. These are spare pieces in case one gets broke, so go ahead. I remember what a pain that saw was before your father came up with these." He held the earsmuffs, happily.

"Thanks." Teo turned back to Sokka, who was already inspecting the piece of metal. It had slowed down enough he could make out the individual saw-teeth.

"So you build stuff here?" Sokka asked.

"Yeah. At first it was a lot smaller. I was too young to remember, but according to my dad when the flood came we had to abandon almost all of our tools. No plows, or shovels, or saws or anything. Heck, some families had to use earthbending to plow the fields the first year. What made it even worse was that most of the blacksmiths and skilled woodworkers were killed in the flood. Kinzdong is the only proper blacksmith we have, but my dad dabbled a little. Since the dam is in the middle of everything, he set up the forge here. Later, my dad began making better designs for tools, like the mega-harvester the Weis are building. The big problem was all the work that went into building one. So he set up the first water-wheel downriver. We didn't use the dam for power back then. We actually had to hook up the water-wheel to the different devices, changing it each time we wanted to use something else."

Teo smiled. "But it worked. The families could come down here and build whatever was needed. That way we didn't have build a dozen different workshops. About two years ago we built this place as an upgrade. Almost everyone who dad helped came down to help out. They even pooled money to hire professional earthbenders to make the buildings proper stone. That's when Dad made sure the walkways were also even stone so I could move easier. It's really worked out. We even got a few people coming from the southern plains. Some of them want to simply purchase the items, instead of using the place to build them. I don't think dad knows how to handle that."

Sokka was awestruck, the shear size and scale, he could begin to get an appreciation of how the Fire Nation must have made such big ships. "Are all your machines are powered by the river?"

"Yeah, well except the smithy." Teo pointed out a window towards one of the buildings, identical to all the others except for smoke stacks. "We still use coal there. Though dad thinks he had an idea to use friction to generate heat, only problem is that it destroys the object being used. Hey, I think the Weis are packing up. Let me show you what they built."

The two of them exited the building. As they headed away from the waterfall Sokka noticed most of the other noises had died down. Though it had been replace by the louder conversation. The first thing Sokka noticed were the sheer number of people, evidently when these people said "family" they meant "tribe". Because there were more people here than in Sokka entire village back home. The second thing he noticed were two large wagons were parked a short distance away from the buildings, several people were loading various pieces of wood onto them. "So that's the mega-harvester…wow. Is it all wood?"

"Well, except for the blades, yeah don't think anyone could afford to craft that much metal precisely. It's really cool, as you move it along the ground the blades are moved in such a way as to chop the grains, then scoop them up into a wooden bin. It's a shame you can't see it, it's really impressive, and sort of hard to describe."

"Sounds like it." Sokka said, but his mind was elsewhere. That was odd, Azula's ship had been much bigger, and the pipes were clearly crafted. Sure, it was a princess's ship, but then there was Zhao's entire fleet. Sokka didn't think all of the tribes in the south, working together, could craft even a third as much metal, and the Fire Nation had been on its last legs. How did they get so much? Sokka wished he thought to ask Houjin that, but back then a metal ship had just been another miracle. "What powers it?"

"Powers it?" Teo asked in confusion.

"Yeah how does it go? Like, the waterfall powers the stuff here."

Teo laughed. "Sorry to disappoint you, but even dad hasn't managed to figure that out. It's actually one of the big problems, given how hard some of his inventions are to move. Most people use oxboars but dad also made a version that uses bending leverage."

"Bending leverage?"

"Yeah, you know how earthbenders…. Oh, right, Water Tribe. Well you know how your sister can move a waterfall with bending? But couldn't move that much earth?"

"Yeah…."

"Dad calls that 'bending leverage' that benders can exert more force than normal when bending. So what he did is create a version with two flat wooden boards on the back, one sort of to the left and the other to the right. Two earthbenders can take rocks and push them forward against the wood, generating a lot more force than if they pushed it directly. It's still a lot of work, and they have to stay in stance, but it's a lot easier than it would be otherwise."

"What about steam power?" Sokka asked

"Steam-power, is that something you use in the Water Tribe? We don't have waterbenders here."

"It's doesn't need benders. I'll talk to your dad about it later. If we want to talk to them it looks like they're just about ready to leave."

"Oh, right!" Teo wheeled his chair forward with one hand while waving to a tall, balding man with a long white beard. "Jae!"

The man turned to greet them. "Oh, hello Teo. We were just about to leave, is there something you want?"

"Yeah. Sokka here" Teo pointed helpfully "Is looking for his sister."

"His sister?"

"Yeah they're both from the Northern Water Tribe. They were on the river when they went over a waterfall and got separated."

"And they survived?"

"Yeah, his sister's a waterbender."

The man stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Huh, I thought the Water Tribe didn't train its women in fighting… then again that's not really combat is it? Very impressive, nonetheless. What does she look like?"

"She's shorter than me, and two years younger, usually wears her hair in little loops in front. She's wearing pretty typical earth kingdom clothing, but does have a blue chocker with a water symbol on it." Sokka supplied.

The man nodded. "If we see anything I'll let you know. And we'll tell the Wus and Shus to keep an eye out as well."

"Thanks."

OoOoOoO

By the time they had gotten back inside the house, the table had already been set. Sokka had practically forgotten how nice normal, non-campfire cooked food could be. "This is delicious. How did you make it?"

"Oh I didn't make this. The Weis brought it over."

"Yeah dad can't cook at all."

"That's because he treats cooking like he treats inventing. He always wants to tinker." Kinzdong added.

The Mechanist ignored them and turned back to Sokka. "So tell me more about this 'steam power'. It doesn't seem like it would be strong enough to move the ship."

"It's not, at least initially. So you put the steam under greater and greater pressure by stuffing it into small globes."

"But how do you keep the fire from burning up the ship?"

Sokka hesitated. "The… the furnace is make of metal."

"Oh, I see. That sounds-" The mechanist was cut off as the doorbell began ringing nonstop. "Looks like someone's at the door. I do wish they would learn you only have to pull once," he sighed as he went to answer it.

Sokka resumed eating when he heard someone shouting in panic from the doorway. "You gotta help, there's a monster on the road." The mechanists reply wasn't loud enough to be heard in the dining room, but the man's answer was, "I don't know, some sort of giant monster masher! The harvest machine has all sorts of blades, you gotta have _something._ It's huge, ten times bigger than a man, and came straight out of the river! It's got four legs and a monstrous mouth. It's so pitch black you can barely see it if not for its massive, unblinking eyes. You gotta help us, Mech! At least let us stay here."

Kinzdong was the first to speak. "Wow, a real monster. Looks like we're going to be having a lot of guests tonight. I hope everyone is okay. It sounds pretty horrible."

"Something that big sounds less like a monster and more like a spirit to me. I mean I've seen probably the most vicious normal animal the world has to offer and –" Sokka slapped himself as he finally filtered out the obvious exaggerations of a panic stricken mind. "SUKARA! Monkeyfeathers!" He leapt up from the table.

"Hey where are you going?" Teo began, but Sokka was already out of the room and halfway to the door.

"Excuse me? Mechanist…. Wei guy, I think I might be able to help."

OoOoOo

Sokka felt a little awkward going along the road alone. It would have been real embarrassing to get lost. But the Mechanist , Teo and Kinzdong were slow as molasses over rocky ground, and the runner was exhausted from running to get help. Frankly, after running along the road for so long, so was Sokka. It was a relief to see the glow of torches up ahead.

The scene was a proverbial firebender's standoff. Though now that Sokka thought about it that term wasn't very accurate, none of the Firebenders he had met would ever have had the patience for a stand-off.

The family had formed a half-circle around Sukara, who was keeping his back to the river. A few of them were earthbenders, and a low wall had been thrown up between the people and Sukara. It didn't look very study and Sokka doubted it would last through a determined charge. A few others had swords, but most seemed to have grabbed one of the sharpened blades from the wagon and were holding them in a manner that made even someone as inexperienced in swordplay as Sokka wince.

He walked up to the circle. "Excuse me." The girl closest to him gave a yelp of surprise and clumsily slashed at him. "Watch it! You could have taken my arm off!"

"Watch it? You practically snuck up on me!... Hey! You're the guy who was at the mechanist…. Is he coming, is he going to help?"

"Not exactly…"

Sokka heard groans of disappointment and expressions of frustration. Jae shouted above the din. "That's about what I expected. It's not fair to expect him to have every solution on hand. Women and children move first, then the wagons. Anyone who can hold a sword or earthbend moves last. Keep your eyes on the thing. We don't want to give it ideas. I do assume we can stay over?"

Sokka spoke up. "Actually. I was going to handle it."

"Are you crazy boy? I don't care how good water tribesmen are as hunters, that thing's a killer! Look at the size of its mouth. And do you even have a weapon!?"

"I'm not going to kill it." Sokka said as he climbed over the wall. "It's mine."

That comment left everyone too stunned to speak. Sukara, who had noticed Sokka climbing over the wall, began to growl. "Hey there, Sukara. It's just me, Sokka. Your buddy, pal, friend?" Sukara stopped growling. "See guys", said Sokka was he walked closer to Sukara. "It's nothing to worry about. He's my pet…" Sokka stopped as he noticed that while Sukara wasn't actually growling, he still hadn't come out of the defensive crouch. Sokka leaned forward. "Sukara?"

Faster than should be possible for a four-legged creature that large, Sukara executed a one hundred-eighty degree turn. His tail whipped around, hitting Sokka like a battering ram and knocked him into the river. "What was that for you lousy mutt?" Sokka spat out between mouthfuls of water.

Sadly, Sukara's impressive display of circling around a few times, stamping his feet, rolling once or twice and giving various growls, barks and whines did little to enlighten Sokka. Except to leave him with a vague impression that someone name Lee had perhaps fallen down a well.

OoOoOoO

The mechanist leaned forward. "So, this is yours? Wow, to have a real Killer Whale-wolf as a pet…"

"Sukara isn't 'my' pet. Just something my sister picked up." Sokka scoffed.

"Well, she's still a magnificent specimen of Maaraka Timi-Iihaamrga or, to put it in non-scientific terms, Killer Whale-Wolf."

Sokka raised his eyebrows. "Wait…. She?"

"Oh yes. You can tell by the rounder curve of the dorsal fin. I'd say she's still a ways from full-grown though, but give it a year. Let me check her teeth." He began to move his hand to her mouth. Sukara growled.

"I don't think that's a good idea." Sokka said as he forced the hand away. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Teo mouthing 'Thanks'.

OoOoOoO

Beds were awesome. Sleeping bags over hard ground just didn't compare. Since travelling with Azula he had barely ever gotten to sleep in one thanks to her paranoid insistence they avoid towns at night if possible. Whatever stuffing the mechanist used here was just heavenly. If nothing else, Sokka resolved to find a way to get one of these back home, it might even make up for the entire trip.

He was half tempted to just lie in bed the whole day, because such a wonderful bed deserved proper use. Plus, he felt like he should celebrate that Azula wasn't kicking him up at the crack of dawn. However, the real world called. Scents from downstairs reminded him of the other reason he loved staying in one place.

OoOoOo

Reaching towards the ceiling, the Mechanist pulled down a large map. "By checking all the rivers where you could have been-"

Sokka leapt from his chair. "We could figure out where Katara is! That's great! The last thing I remember is the waterfall, so we just have to figure out what areas of the river are downstream of it."

The older man nodded. "Though first we have to figure out which waterfall."

Sokka shrugged. "That shouldn't be too hard, how many can there be?"

A thin, translucent piece of rice paper was pulled over the map. "Let's see, we have the Huagxi waterfall here. The guanying here, and Tui's molars here. And this one doesn't really have a name." As he spoke, the mechanist began brushing 'x's all over the map.

Sokka groaned.

OoOoOo

"You look beat." Teo remarked.

Sokka sighed. "I had no idea there were so many waterfalls here, and rivers, and rivers that cross into other rivers. And join, and separate and then join back. If we went over the wrong waterfall Katara could be _anywhere_."

"Sounds like you could use some cheering up. Up for a game?"

"Honestly, my brain so overloaded with geography. I'm really not up for anything involving thinking."

Teo shook his head. "Don't worry, this isn't any sort of board game."

"Really? Like sports. I didn't you could- I mean you did those sort of things down here, in the Earth Kingdom."

Teo graciously ignored his last comment, and pulled down a large lever. A table fell out from the wall. At least table was the best word Sokka could think of, but it didn't really fit it. For one thing the flat part was incredibly thick, resembling a cabinet more than a table. Lengthwise along each side were a number of poles and various levers inserted into it. Looking over it, Sokka could see that it was semi-hollowed out, like a giant wooden pit. Within the hollowed out section were several bars that ran through various carved figures, some painted green, some black. "Allow me to introduce you to table earth- soccer."

OoOoOo

Kinzdong examined the scroll. "Hmmm." He turned the scroll on its side. "Hmmmm." He turned it upside-down. "Hmmmm." Finally, he gave up. "Sorry kid, I can't make heads or tails of this."

Sokka put the scroll down on the table and began pointing. "It's very simple. This is the heart of it."

"The wheel? I thought this was on a ship." Kinzdong, hazarded.

"No, it's not a wheel. It's a hollow globe. See?"

Kinzdong took another look. "Not really. What are the lines sticking out?"

"Those are the pipes."

"We need to get you drawing lessons," the blacksmith muttered. "You know how you make these parts?"

Sokka rubbed his neck. "Not really. I was just working on the ship…"

"Right." Kinzdong turned and grabbed some tools from his work rack. "Well, I've made weirder things then this since the flood. I'm sure I can figure this out. Now kid, you interested in learning blacksmithing?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Given you're the one who inspired this little mad project? Not really."

OoOoOoOo

"So about how big was the waterfall?"

"I told you, huge, gigantean, monstrous."

"That's not a very accurate measurement."

"Sorry, near death experiences tend to reduce my accuracy."

The mechanist turned back to the board. "Alright. We should think this through. Your sister had time to waterbend, so it couldn't' have been too small. When would you say she began waterbending?"

Sokka sighed. "I don't know… halfway down maybe?'

The mechanist marked on 'x' on the crude drawing of the waterfall on the paper behind him. "So, if at halfway down she could reach the water… how far can waterbenders reach?"

OoOoOo

"So I think I'm getting the hand of moving the guys. Now what are the levers down here for?"

"Are you sure want to do that? I mean, you only scored-"

"I'm ready. Besides, with my keen tactical mind, more complexity can only help me."

Teo shrugged. "Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you. Earth Soccer is done with earthbenders, so a big part of the game is maneuvering the terrain. Each of the levers let's you adjust the slope of one of the parts of the field. Turn it to move the slope the way you want."

"Alright, so this way is forward, this way is back…. I got this."

To his credit, Sokka did technically score half of the goals of the next game. Granted, they were all against himself, but it was still quite impressive.

OoOoOo

"So, how long do you think this takes?" The mechanist was practically bouncing up and down with excitement.

Sokka sighed, it wasn't going to be any faster than the last ten times he asked. Still, he was a guest. "I don't know. The fires on the ship were much bigger, but so was the amount of water, and it had four chambers instead of our two."

"Wait, I think I heard something! It sounds like the water in the second chamber is beginning to boil. Oh I can't wait." The mechanist moved to look down the open pipe at the end.

"What are you doing?!" Sokka grabbed the mechanist, and pulled him back with such force that they both ended up sprawled on the floor. Almost simultaneously, his action was validated by a burst of steam from the pipe, coming out with such force that it tore through the small wooden rotational fan that was supposed to test its power.

The mechanist wiped the sweat from his brow. "You really weren't kidding! I had no idea that steam could pack such a punch, or that the Water Tribe was so advanced!"

OoOoOo

Sokka jumped up and threw his hands into the air. "Yes! Victory."

Teo smiled. "So that makes it forty-two to one, right?"

Sokka shook his head. "No, no way. Those other games don't count. They were just practice. Now I've gotten the hang of it."

"Whatever you say."

OoOoOo

"Spirit's drop. If that's the waterfall we dropped from----- Ugh! She could be anywhere!"

The mechanist patted his back. "It's not so bad. Most of the rivers diverging from it end up here." The Mechanist pointed to the collection of rivers irrigating the land near the town.

"But what if she ended up in here, or here, or here?" Sokka gestured all over the map.

"Well, I'm sure-" Any further attempts to comfort Sokka were drowned out by the doorbell ringing.

The mechanist stood up. "Oh, that should be the Xi. I didn't think they'd be here so early. Maybe I can use steam power for their plow. And if anyone found your sister she might be with them…. Though I do wish people would learn you only have to ring once."

Sokka, who was already up, headed towards the door. "Don't worry," he said as he pulled the lever. "I got it—acHAk!" His words were cut off as he was lifted up by his collar with a single hand.

Zhao leaned in towards him, smirking. "Hello, boy."

Sokka futilely kicked his legs in the air. "Zhao! What are you doing here?"

"Looking for the princess, unfortunately, I found you instead."

"What is going on here?" the Mechanist demanded as he rushed in, followed closely by Teo.

"Oh nothing, " said Sokka. "Just chatting with a friend. Look, Zhao I'm sorry but I don't know where Azula is. We broke up and I'm just looking for my sister. So sorry to waste your time but-"

Sokka was cut off as Zhao lifted him up and drove him into the wall with all the force of a catapult. .

"What do you think you're doing?" The Mechanist demanded. "Unhand him this-" Without even bother to turn around. Zhao placed his free hand behind him.

"Watch out!" Sokka shouted, as fire leapt from Zhao's hand. The mechanist leapt back, barely avoiding being charred.

"Dad!" Teo shouted, wheeling over to him.

"Leave them out of it! He hasn't done anything," Sokka shouted.

Zhao smiled. "He harbored a wanted fugitive."

"I told you, I'm not with Azula now, and she's not going to take time to get me. Why do you want me?"

"Oh I don't know. Do the words, 'They're trying to burn the ships and the city' have any meaning to you?"

Sokka gulped. "Oh, right. So what are you-"

Sokka curled up in pain as Zhao punched him in the stomach. Or at least he tried to, given that he was still being held up in the air this was harder than it sounded. Sokka's pain renewed and doubled as he was thrown over Zhao's shoulder.

Teo wheeled himself forward. "You shouldn't do that. I'd advise you leave right now, or else." Sokka mentally thanked the spirits that Kinzdong was in his workshop right now and would probably be unable to hear them. At least he wouldn't get involved.

Zhao laughed. "And why is that?"

"The Air Nomads. We have regular contact with them, and they're coming today. I don't think they'd like to find a Fire Nation marauder here."

Sokka mentally winced, while Zhao just chuckled. "Then I suppose I shall just have to burn this place and all its inhabitants to the ground to hide my presence." Zhao laughed at the looks of horror. "Oh don't worry. I won't really. Because I know you're not in regular contact with the Air Nomads. And even if you were, it wouldn't matter. You see, this boy is wanted by the Air Nomads."

"What are you talking about?"

Zhao made a tsk tsking noise. "You haven't told them? Then, as a great lover of the truth, allow me to enlighten you. This boy has been aiding and assisting the mad princess Azula. I assume even a peasant town such as this has at least heard of her?" If Teo and the Mechanist hadn't, they were at least smart enough not to mention it. "You know. I was planning to carry you, but now that I think about it, it's a long walk. You're a strong boy, you should carry yourself."

Sokka, still feeling Zhao's sledgehammer of a fist, barely managed to wheeze out "_You… utter..._" Before being unceremoniously dropped on the floor.

"You." Zhao pointed to Teo. "Fetch me some rope."

OoOoOo

On the one hand by the time Zhao had bound Sokka's hands to his satisfaction, Sokka had mostly recovered from the earlier blow. On the other hand Zhao's definition of "firmly bound" meant Sokka could practically feel his hands going numb, then again, that might be an improvement on how they felt right now. And there was the fact that Zhao was now going to drag him one a several miles journey to imprisonment and an unknown fate, but that was life. While Sokka thought about all this, Zhao lost his patience and threw a fireball at his feet.

"Hey, what was that for?"

Zhao held up his hand again in warning. "I told you, no delays, now go."

"I can't, there's a door in my way." Sokka held up his bound arms.

Zhao rolled his eyes. "Will one of you two open the door?" Teo wheeled forward and pulled the lever, keeping an eye on Zhao as he did so.

Sokka began to walk out of the house, but stopped halfway through the door way. "Oh no_,_" he muttered under his breath. About twenty feet away were a group of people that could only be the family that the Mechanist had mentioned were coming earlier. Even worse, Sokka could see a few holding crude weapons or floating boulders.

"Who's that? I don't recognize him." Sokka couldn't make out who in the crowd was talking. This family seemed even bigger than the first one. Not just in numbers (in fact there might have been less of them) but _bigger_, most were at least Zhao's size, and a few were about a head taller.

"Look at his skin. It's the Water Tribe boy."

"Look at his hands."

"I told you something funny was going on in there."

Sokka barely managed to dodge a second blast of fire near his feet. "I told you to get a move on boy-" Zhao stopped, the collective shouts of surprise of the crowd, combined with the now open door, were more than loud enough for Zhao to hear. "What is going out there?"

"What was that?"

"Look, that's got to be the guy who did it."

"He's got some sort of explosive?"

"Don't be a moron, Hong, he's obviously a firebender."

"I'm the moron? Firebenders don't come here. The Air Nomads beat them in good."

"The Nation maybe, but a bunch of em went rogue. Down in the cities you can hire em dime a dozen."

"AHEM." Zhoa shouted, failing to get the attention of the now squabbling family, to no one's surprise but his own. "I SAID AHEM!" This time he punctuated his statement with a brief burst of fire. "Now then-"

"See, told you he was one."

"Would you idiots stop babbling and listen to me!" Zhao shouted, taking a deep breath before continuing. "I am attempting to apprehend this criminal on behalf of the Air Nomads." For a brief, beautiful moment the entire family was silent.

"How stupid do you think we are? A firebender working for the Air Nomads? I can even still see your military uniform."

"Hey, I think I heard something about a rogue Fire Nation guy coming through the Earth Kingdom."

"For crying out loud, that was that princess. Does _he_ look like a princess to you, Jiang?"

"Well, obviously not. But she's probably going to need escorts, high class princess like that. Goodness knows I wouldn't try it alone."

"Oh please. You could probably wrestle a platypus-bear to the ground. He's more of a princess than you are."

"You take that back!"

Had Zhao been…. well, almost anyone but himself, he could have easily slipped away while the family was bickering. Instead he once more drew attention to himself. "I am taking this criminal back to custody. You will disperse and allow me through."

The crowd, which had been suspicious before, began to turn hostile.

"Thinks he can order us around."

"Is the mechanist alright?"

"And his poor son, imagine bullying a cripple like that."

"Bet he did something horrible to em."

Zhao, showing all the tact of an enraged moose-lion, unleashed a stream of flame at the ground near the crowd as a warning shot. "I order you to move!" If Zhao hadn't made enemies before then, he certainly had now. His next sentence was cut off as a piece of stone came flying towards him. He easily blocked its crude flight, and retaliated with a blast of fire in that direction. The bender had set up a stone wall, but the amateurish, untrained creation was not nearly enough to stand up to Zhao's blast, and Sokka heard a scream.

"Hong! Are you alright?"

"He got my arm! The bastard got my freaking arm!"

"Now then, if the rest of you don't want to suffer the same. Get out of my way."

The murmurings turned low, and Sokka thought he could make out several creative names and suggestions for what to do with Zhao. Nevertheless, fear won out over anger and the crown began to slowly move back.

"Good, now-" Zhao stopped as he heard a very distinctive growl on his right. "It's that blasted Whale-Wolf," he muttered. This time it was Zhao who took an involuntary step back, trying to divide his attention between the crown and Sukara. "Go! Get lost" Zhao fired a few blasts at Sukara, but since he was unwilling to take his eyes off the Xi's, they were easily dodged. Sukara crouched down, ready to charge.

Sokka was sure the village time piece was inaccurate, as there was no way the stand-off lasted for only a minute. Finally, it was broken by the soft patting of metal against a hand. The mechanist had emerged from door, carrying one of the pipes. "You took my guest. You injured Hong. And most importantly, you threatened my son. Get out."

Zhao laughed. "Do you seriously think you can harm me? An untrained tinkerer with a metal club?"

"Maybe he can't," began Sokka, "But you sure you want to turn your attention towards him? I've seen someone get eaten by Sukara, not a pretty sight. And even if you pay attention to both of them, you've still got an angry mob to deal with. Mob to your left, Killer Whale-Wolf in front, and him to the right. Doesn't sound so pathetic now? Does it Zhao?"

Zhao gritted his teeth. Finally he picked up Sokka held him face to face. "You have the spirits own luck boy!"Zhao threw him to the ground before stomping off.

OoOoOoO

Sokka fidgeted nervously. "Is he going to be alright?"

The Mechanist nodded. "Hong will be fine. I've had to learn a bit of doctoring as well, and it's mostly a mild burn. The wall absorbed most of the impact."

"Look I'm, really sorry about this. I didn't mean to get you in trouble."

"Are you really with Azula?"

Sokka rubbed his arm awkwardly. "Sort of, I didn't mean to get involved it's just…. I'm actually from the Southern Water Tribe. Azula's ship got frozen near us and she offered to take Katara north to learn waterbending. It was her ship that used steam power, nothing my tribe came up with. My sister joined up and I followed her to keep her safe." Sokka felt himself jumping between topics, saying whatever came to mind.

"Couldn't she learn it in the south?"

"No, there weren't any waterbenders in our tribe, and going to the others… wasn't safe. Then again, neither was the trip." Sokka chuckled. "Look, I'm sorry I got you involved. I thought that after I broke up with Azula that was it. I'm sorry about not telling. I just wasn't sure I could trust…. Oh Tui."

"I wish you had been, honest. But I understand-" The mechanist began

"No, it not that. I just realized. Before we got separated, we had a big fight because my sister wasn't telling me everything. _She didn't trust me_…. Look, I should get going. "

"…. Are you sure? What about your sister?"

"I can't risk someone else for my sake. I might have done that already. Zhao's going to mention this to his bosses, though the Air Nomad in charge, at least I think he was in charge, seemed a lot calmer. Plus, my sister hasn't turned up yet, and I've been stupid. We saw that she only has a chance of ending up here. And at this point it doesn't matter where she ended up, it matter's where she is. Almost all the rivers lead to the coast, and there aren't that many cities. I should start looking there, if she isn't there, someone who has seen her might be."

"I see. Well, I wish you the best of luck."

**Author's notes: **

The mechanist's area was supposed to be representative of someone who was just that, a mechanist, but not everything else. He had the idea of how to make a factory, but not the social advances that go with them (dedicated workers, city near the factory etc). Also, no steam power. Without having met the Fire Nation, and the ready source of hydro power, it never occurred to him.

Also, the reason Sokka comes off as unworried about Katara is because he's simply refusing to consider the possibility that she could be dead. He simply couldn't deal with it and isn't willing to confront it. I tried writing a scene detailing that, but it just really wasn't working so I ended up throwing it out.

Sukara being female was planned from the beginning. Interestingly if you look back, Sokka was actually the first one who mentionied a gender (getting it wrong).

**Epilogue: **Sokka sighed. "Look I'm sorry for ignoring you. Just because I met new people doesn't give me the right ignore old friends. Even so, you really came through for me. So apology accepted.

Sukara panted happily. This time, her communication was much more effective, indicating that forgiveness may happen if sufficient belly rubs were given.


End file.
